August 31, 2018
The Tusky Valley football team failed to take advantage of several scoring opportunities and as a result dropped a 13-0 contest at Fairless on Friday night. The frustrating loss left both teams at 1-1 on the season.
The first half was dominated by the Trojan double wing offense but Tusky Valley was unable to cash in on three trips to the red zone.
After neither team was able to move the ball on their first possession, the Trojans embarked on a physical, methodical drive that saw them move the ball 60 yards on 15 plays and chew up over seven minutes of game clock. Facing a 4th and 3 at the Falcons 5-yard line, the Trojans decided to pass on a short field goal attempt. Unfortunately, the decision would not pay off as Toby Grossi was only able to gain two yards on the fourth down play and the Trojans turned the ball over on downs at the Fairless 3-yard line.
The Trojan defense would immediately force a three and out and the Falcons were forced to punt from their own end zone. However, Falcon punter Jack Laney would flip the field when he connected on a 77 yard punt to the Trojan 20. A penalty against Tusky Valley moved the ball all the way back to their 10-yard line and instead of having great starting field position the Trojans started deep in their own territory.
It looked like the flip in field position would have little effect as the Trojans ripped off four straight runs of 10 or more yards to move deep into Fairless territory. Tusky Valley would eventually face a 4th and 3 from the Falcon 9 yard line. Once again, the Trojans decided to go for it and once again they came up a yard short as Tristin Tesch was held to a 2-yard gain and another scoring opportunity had been lost.
The Trojan double wing produced 240 yards rushing in the first half but the Trojans were unable to find the end zone.
The Falcons immediately capitalized. After gaining their initial first down of the night, Falcon quarterback Jack Laney connected with Justin Yoder on a screen pass. Yoder would race up the Falcon sideline untouched for a stunning 75 yard touchdown and Fairless held a 7-0 lead despite being outplayed for most of the night.
Tusky Valley looked to respond by putting together their third long drive of the game. This time the Trojans marched 81 yards on 10 plays to the Falcon 11 yard line. With 18 seconds remaining, the Trojans faced a third and one but were unable to convert as Luke Herron was thrown for a 2-yard loss. Out of timeouts, the Trojan players scrambled to the line anticipating spiking the ball after successfully moving the chains. Unfortunately, the Trojans mistakenly spiked the ball on fourth down and another scoring threat came up empty.
As a result of the missed opportunities, Tusky Valley would jog off the field at halftime trailing by a score of 7-0 despite running 42 plays for 240 yards compared to Fairless’ 10 plays for just 90 yards.
The third quarter would be dominated by defense as neither team could sustain offensive momentum. The Falcons would gain just 30 yards on 14 offensive snaps in the period while the Trojans could manage just 44 yards on 9 snaps.
The offensive struggles would continue into the fourth quarter but the Trojan defense would provide the offense with another golden opportunity. Facing a 4th and 3 at the Trojan 44, the Falcons decided to go for it instead of punting. The decision backfired as Luke Herron tackled quarterback Jack Laney for no gain to give the the Trojan offense outstanding field position.
Tusky Valley would move the ball the Fairless 31 with 5:23 remaining. Facing 4th and 1, the Trojans would once again come up short as Fairless’ Lance Wickham would sidestep a Trojan blocker and trip up Ethan Love at the line of scrimmage to force another turnover on downs.
It appeared as though the Trojan offense would get one final shot when the Falcons were forced to punt with 3:43 remaining. Unfortunately, confusion on the punt return team led to the ball being touched by a Tusky Valley player and the live ball was recovered at the Trojan 11-yard line by the Falcons.
Falcon running back Logan Slutz would clinch the victory for Fairless when he broke free from Trojan defenders at the 11-yard line and put the game out of reach with a touchdown run to make the score 13-0.
The loss was hard to fathom when looking at the box score following the game. Tusky Valley ran 65 plays on the night to just 38 offensive snaps for the Falcons. The Trojans outgained Fairless 331-158 and accumulated 17 first downs compared to only 8 for the Falcons. However, in the only stat that mattered, Fairless led 13-0 on the scoreboard when the final gun sounded.
The victory was the fifth in six years for the Falcons over the Trojans and cut Tusky Valley’s all time lead in the series to 22-15.
The Trojans will look to get back to their winning ways when the travel to Sandy Valley for a non-league game against the rival Cardinals. The game will be the 43rd matchup between the two schools that sit just over 5 miles apart. The Trojans hold a 22-20 series lead following last year’s 29-26 victory. The game will kick off at 7:00 PM