RSS Feed
|
|
|
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Tigers fall to GAC, finish season at 10-2
GAC started the game with the ball on its 36-yard line. The Tiger defense started the game off strong, tackling the Spartan running back for a two-yard-loss on first down and sacking GAC's quarterback, Division-1 prospect Lee Chapple, for a four-yard-loss on second down. But then a busted coverage on thirdand long turned the game around for the Spartans. Chapple found a wideopen receiver behind the Washington defense for 70 yards and a touchdown. The PAT put GAC up 7-0 with 10:24 left in the opening quarter.
Tigers vs. GAC (statistics compiled by Scott Chafin)
Passes 5-13-2 7-14-0 Total Yards 130 389 No. Penalties 9 6 Yds. Penalized 69 40 Fumbles/lost 2/1 2/0 Punts/avg. 5/32.4 3/37.6 Return yards 132 104
Score by quarters Tigers 0 7 7 0 -14 GAC 14 10 0 17 - 41 went three-and-out with two carries by Demont Gresham and a run by Clete Wilson. Wilson's punt put the Spartans on the Washington 40-yard line. The Tiger defense started off tough, but GAC again converted on third-and-long. Three plays later the Spartans scored from one-yard-out, going ahead 14-0 with 5:13 left in the first quarter. After a 19-yard kickoff return by Gresham, the Washington offense again went three-and-out. The GAC return man fair caught the punt on his 39-yard line. The Spartans made it the W-W 49-yard line before the Tiger defense made its first stop of the night. Gresham returned the punt to the Washington 19-yard line before being tackled. Two runs by Wylie, the second for 16-yards, gave the Tigers a first down on their 30-yard line and ended the first quarter.
Jareon Small received the ensuing kickoff on the Tigers' three-yard line and went all 93 yards untouched for the first Washington touchdown of the night. Mark Tench came on to make the PAT, putting W-W on the board with 8:46 left in the second quarter. The Tiger defense forced the Spartans to go three-andout on their next drive, with the punt rolling out-of-bounds at the Washington 14-yard line. Wylie gained the Tigers a first down, but the drive would stall. GAC started its drive on the WW 49-yard line. Slowly but surely the Spartans drove down to the Tigers' 14-yard line before the defense tightened up. The GAC kicker made a 31-yard field goal with just 28 seconds left in the half to increase GAC's lead to 24-7. Washington received the kickoff and ran two plays before the half ended. The beginning of the third quarter showed the only hope for the Tigers. An out-of-bounds kickoff gave Washington the ball on its 35- yard line. Gresham received the toss from Wilson and started to run. Then, just as Wylie had the week before, Gresham dropped back and threw the ball downfield to a Gary Wilburn for 48 yards, down to the Spartans' 17-yard line. After a short gain by Wylie, Gresham made a great catch on a 16-yard Wilson pass in the end zone to move Washington within 10 points of GAC. The Spartans returned the kickoff 39-yards to the W-W 49-yard line, but the Tiger defense held strong, blocking a 52-yard field goal attempt. The momentum was clearly in Washington's favor, but it wouldn't stay that way for long. On the Tigers' first play after the blocked kick, the Spartans pickedoff a long Wilson pass down on their 25-yard line. The W-W defense held strong one last time, forcing the Spartans to punt from their 10-yard line. The Tiger offense again went three-and-out, with GAC starting on its 17-yard line after Wilson's punt. A long run and an offsides call on Washington put the Spartans on the W-W 27-yard line to end the third quarter. Two plays into the fourth quarter, a 24-yard run gave GAC another touchdown. The PAT made the score 31-14 with 11:12 left in the fourth quarter. Washington fumbled the following kickoff, with the Spartans recovering on the W-W 28-yard line. The Tiger defense kept GAC out of the end zone, but the Spartan kicker made a 42-yard field goal on fourth down boosting the lead to 20 points. Things continued to go downhill for Washington, as two plays into the Tigers next drive Wilson threw his second interception of the game. The Spartans started their drive with a 55-yard run down to the W-W 15- yard line. After making a tackle-forloss, defensive tackle Dan Wylie kicked the GAC ball carrier in the face, giving the Spartans a first down and getting Wylie ejected. Three plays later Chapple scored on a one-yard quarterback sneak, giving the game its final score of 41- 14. The Tigers tried to mount one last drive, but three incomplete passes would force a turnover on downs with only a few minutes left to play. GAC got the ball on the W-W 35- yard line and proceeded to run out the clock. The Spartans will go on the play Dublin in the next round of the playoffs. The Tigers put up 130 total yards, their second lowest total of the season. Wylie was the leading rusher with 13 carries for 48 yards. This gave Wylie a total of 2,024 rushing yards on the season. Wilson completed four passes for 25 yards and Gresham completed one for 48 yards. Wilburn was the leading receiver with two catches for 51- yards, and then Gresham with two catches for 22 yards. The Tiger defense was led by linebacker Dywane Hampton with nine tackles and five assists. Next was defensive end Anthony Smith with seven tackles, two sacks, three assists, and a caused fumble, and then linebacker Trey McCants with six tackles, three assists, and one caused fumble. Mark Tench made both his PATs.
The Tigers ended the season with a 10-2 record and the 8AA Region Championship.
|
for larger version       |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
)
)
)
)
)
