The Tusky Valley football team hung tough through three quarters at undefeated Sandy Valley on Friday night. Unfortunately, the Trojans suffered from another critical red zone disappointment and couldn’t overcome the Cardinal dynamic duo of Cameron Blair and Dante Tucci as they fell by a score of 50-29.
The Trojans received the opening kickoff and were driving down the field on their opening possession using their run heavy double wing attack. However, the Trojans would break tendency in an attempt to get a big play but it would backfire as Tanner Phillips’ pass was intercepted by Bryce Kelly and Kelly returned the interception all the way to the Trojan 32.
Sandy Valley would need just four plays to take advantage of the Trojan turnover as sophomore Cameron Blair would find Dante Tucci for a 15 yard touchdown pass and the Cardinals jumped to an early 7-0 lead.
On their second drive the Trojans would return to what they do best and would run the ball 11 straight times. The Trojan line opened up holes for running backs Ethan Love, Isaiah Schlegel and Toby Grossi and it was Schlegel who capped the drive with a four yard touchdown run to tie the game at 7-7.
Isaiah Schlegel had 281 all-purpose yards and a touchdown vs. Sandy Valley.
The Cardinals would retake the lead early in the second quarter thanks to an 11 play drive of their own that featured a key 4th and one conversion at the Cardinal 42. The drive would end with another 4th down conversion. This time Blair found Brodie Kelly in between two Trojan defenders for a touchdown on 4th and goal and Sandy Valley was back on top 14-7.
After the teams combined for three straight possessions that ended in punts, the Trojans got their first big break of the night when Steven Gilliand forced a fumble by Sandy Valley’s Brendan O’Bradovich. Noah Love’s recovery gave Tusky Valley the ball at the Cardinal 47 yard line.
The Trojans would take advantage of the takeaway as they drove to the Cardinal goal line in the waning seconds of the half. Ethan Love would then find the end zone on a three yard touchdown run and the Cardinal lead was cut to 14-13. A facemask penalty against the Cardinals on Love’s touchdown run moved the ball half the distance to the goal line on the conversion attempt and the Trojans decided to go for a two-point conversion. The gamble paid off as Tristin Tesch ran in over the left side of the line and Tusky Valley would take a 15-14 lead to intermission.
The Trojans went to halftime riding the momentum but it didn’t take long for Sandy Valley to steal the momentum back as the Cardinals took the second half kickoff and marched down the field in just 1:10 to retake the lead. This scoring strike came on the second Blair to Tucci touchdown pass of the night. The extra point made it 21-15 Cardinals.
While the Cardinal score was lightning quick, the Trojans used a more methodical but equally productive approach on their opening drive of the second half. Tusky Valley used another 11 play drive to regain the lead thanks to Ethan Love’s second touchdown of the night, this time from 15 yards out.
Trailing 22-21, the Cardinal offense exploded again. Sandy Valley needed just three plays and 59 seconds to go back on top. Blair was 3-3 on the 60 yard drive and tossed his third touchdown pass of the night to Tucci and his fourth overall to give Sandy Valley a 28-22 lead.
The Trojans would produce some fireworks of their own on the Sandy Valley kickoff. Isaiah Schlegel would field the ball at the 3-yard line and find a seam in the Cardinal kick coverage. After making the kicker miss near midfield, Schlegel would be in a foot race to the goal line before being dragged down at the Cardinal 3-yard line. The 94 yard kickoff return would pay dividends when Tristin Tesch would reach the ball over the goal line just three plays later and Tusky Valley led 29-28.
The Cardinals took over possession looking to score quickly once again. However, two incomplete passes and an offensive holding penalty put the Cardinals behind the chains. Facing 3rd and 20 from their the Trojan 41, the Cardinals benefited from a pass interference call against the Trojan secondary on an incomplete pass. Two plays later, Blair would toss his fifth touchdown pass of the night when he found Brady Russell alone in the end zone and Sandy Valley regained the lead 35-29 with just seconds remaining in the third quarter.
The Trojans would get right back into position to retake the lead thanks to a 31-yard run from Tristin Tesch, a Sandy Valley personal foul penalty and a 13-yard run from Ethan Love. Tusky Valley would have the ball 1st and goal at the Cardinal two yard line when disaster nearly struck. The Trojans miscommunicated on an audible and the ball was pitched without a running back there to catch the ball. Fortunately, quarterback Tanner Phillips hustled back and recovered the fumble but the Trojans now faced 2nd and goal at nine. The Trojans would not be able to overcome the mistake as a fumbled snap on fourth down ended the Trojan drive and Sandy Valley took over possession at their own five yard line.
Backed up near their own goal line the Cardinals would not become conservative. Sandy Valley called pass plays on first and second down and both times the Trojans came agonizingly close to dropping Blair in the end zone for a safety before he was able to throw the ball away. Undeterred, the Cardinals decided to throw the ball again on third down and the decision would prove golden as Blair would find Tucci with a perfectly executed post pattern. Tucci would haul in the pass near midfield and outrace the Trojan secondary to teh end zone and the Cardinals pushed the lead to 42-29.
Down by two scores, the Trojans were forced to throw and could not get a first down on their next possession. After stopping Tusky Valley on fourth down at the Trojan 32, Sandy Valley put the finishing touches on the game with four straight Brendan O’Bradovich runs resulting in a final Cardinal touchdown and a 50-29 Sandy Valley victory.
With the win Sandy Valley improves to 3-0 on the season while Tusky Valley falls to 1-2. The victory was the fourth in five years for Sandy Valley and cut Tusky Valley’s all-time lead in the series to 22-21.
The potent Cardinal offense racked up 433 yards of total offense on the night. Blair completed 22-33 passes for 377 yards and six touchdowns. His main target on the night was Dante Tucci who hauled in 10 receptions for 227 yards and four touchdowns.
The Trojan attack piled up 334 yards of total offense, all of which came on the ground. Tusky Valley was led by Ethan Love who rushed for 102 yards and two touchdowns on 16 carries. Tristin Tesch added 78 yards while Isaiah Schlegel rushed for 77 with both accounting for a Trojan TD.
Tusky Valley will look to even their record at 2-2 on Friday night when they travel to Strasburg’s Ron Hurst stadium to face the Tigers. It will be the 19th meeting between the two schools with the Trojans leading the all-time series 14-3-1.