The Tusky Valley football team suffered a heartbreaking loss on Friday night as the Trojans could not hold on to a 17-6 second half lead and fell to East Canton by a score of 18-17. The Trojans dominated play throughout the night as they outgained the Hornets 327-146. However, East Canton took advantage of critical Trojan mistakes and pulled out the victory when they blocked Tusky Valley’s potential game-winning field goal on the final play of the game.
East Canton's Wyatt Deutschman blocks Tusky Valley potential game winning field goal.
The start of the game was delayed by an hour as strong storms blew through the area as the teams were warming up. The delayed start didn’t hamper the Trojans as Tusky Valley took the opening kickoff and marched down the field with ease. The inspired Trojans capped off the opening drive with a 7-yard Tristin Tesch touchdown run to give Tusky Valley the lead. Unfortunately, the extra point was blocked and the score remained at 6-0 Trojans.
The Tusky Valley defense picked up the momentum from the offense as they quickly forced a three and out. The Trojans then drove 42 yards on 6 plays and had the ball at the East Canton 18 yard line poised to take a two score lead. Unfortunately the first critical mistake of the night occurred on the final play of the first quarter as the Trojans fumbled a handoff and East Canton’s Wyatt Deutschman picked up the loose ball. Deutschman would outrun the Trojans as he raced 82 yards for a Hornet defensive touchdown and the game was tied at 6 after the Hornets missed their extra point.
The start of the second quarter did not go well for the Trojans. First, the Hornets pulled off a surprise onside kick following their defensive touchdown. However, the Trojan defense would hold and the Hornets could not take advantage of the onside kick. East Canton would quickly get another opportunity as they would recover another Trojan fumble. Once again, the Trojan defense would step up and keep the Hornets from taking advantage of the turnover.
Late in the second quarter the Trojan offense began to mount another drive. The drive appeared to be in trouble with the Trojans facing a third and 13 and just under one minute remaining in the half. The drive would stay alive when Tusky Valley completed their first pass of the year as Tristin Tesch found Austin Dean for a 17-yard gain and a Trojan first down. The Tusky Valley drive would end with points as Sam Ray connected on a field goal of the final play of the half to give Tusky Valley a 9-6 lead at the break.
While the Trojans held the lead at the break, the defensive touchdown for the Hornets loomed large. Tusky Valley had outgained the East Canton 168-7 in the first half but Deutschamn’s fumble return kept the Hornets within striking distance.
The Hornets would receive the second half kickoff but a special teams mistake would pin them deep in their own territory. The Hornets were unable to cleanly field the kickoff and by time Nathaniel Suntheimer was able to pick up the ball he was brought down by the Trojans at the 13 yard line. Pinned deep, the Hornets would make another mistake when quarterback Cody Vacco was unable to handle an errant shotgun snap. East Canton’s Malik Hill would fall on the loose ball in the end zone resulting in a safety and an 11-6 Trojan lead.
Following the safety the Trojans would take the free kick and mount another drive. This time Noah Love would finish off the drive with a 4-yard touchdown run to extend the Tusky Valley lead to 17-6. For the second time the Trojans would be unable to convert the extra point as East Canton once again blocked the extra point and the Trojan lead stayed at 11.
Trailing by 11 the Hornet offense appeared to be on their way to another three and out as they faced a third and six from their own 18 yard line. But the game would change on the very next play as Vacco found Michael Mareno and Marono sidestepped a Trojan defender and sprinted 82 yards for a Hornet touchdown. The Hornet two-point conversion attempt would fail but the Vacco-Mareno connection had given the Hornets new life.
The score would remain 17-12 Tusky Valley early in the the fourth quarter. The Trojans faced a fourth and three at the East Canton 38 yard line. The Trojans, who had been stuffed on a fourth down on the previous possession, decided to punt. Originally that strategy appeared to pay off as the Trojans punted the ball inside the East Canton 20. However, a false start penalty against the Trojans forced them to attempt to punt again. This time disaster would strike as a low snap got behind the Trojan punter and Tusky Valley was unable to get a kick off giving East Canton possession at the Trojan 38 yard line.
Two plays later Hornet quarterback Cody Vacco would make the Trojans pay for the mistake as he ran up the middle on a designed run, broke through two Trojan tacklers in the secondary and ran into the end zone from 38 yards out and East Canton led 18-17 with 8:25 remaining in the game
Suddenly the Trojan offense was unable to move the ball offensively but the Trojan defense would give them life with just over three minutes remaining as a perfectly timed blitz by linebacker Noah Love forced a Hornet fumble and Marcus Zagales fell on the loose ball.
Unfortunately, the turnover would not lead to anything as the Hornet defense stood strong and stopped the Trojans on downs. East Canton took over possession near midfield with just under a minute remaining in the contest. The game appeared to be over but once again the Trojan defense would force another Vacco fumble and Luke Herron fell on the ball at the Trojan 40-yard line with 47 seconds remaining.
The Trojans would frantically move the ball down to the East Canton 24 yard line with just seven seconds to play. With no timeouts remaining, the Trojans sent out the field goal unit to attempt a game winning 41-yard field goal. Unfortunately, the Hornets were able to break through the Trojan line and block the field goal attempt and pull out a stunning 18-17 victory,
The Hornets won the game despite being dominated in every statistical category. The Trojans ran 75 offensive plays to just 28 for East Canton. Tusky Valley had 327 total yards and 22 first downs compared to East Canton’s 151 yards and five first downs. However, the Hornets made just enough game changing plays and took advantage of critical Trojan mistakes to pull out the victory.
With the win the Hornets improved to 3-2 on the season while the Trojans fall to 2-3. The Hornets also cut the all-time Trojan lead in the series to 15-14.
Tusky Valley will look to even their record next Friday night when they host the Newcomerstown Trojans. The game will kick off at 7:00 PM.