Tusky Valley 14 - Waynedale 10

August 24, 2018

Box Score | Pictures | Highlights

The Tusky Valley football team started off the season in victorious fashion as the Trojans scored twice in the fourth quarter to beat the visiting Waynedale Golden Bears by a final score of 14-10.  The win was the third straight opening season victory for the Trojans.

For much of the night it didn’t appear as though the Trojans would start the season the way they had hoped. Waynedale took the opening kickoff and mounted a 10 play drive but were unable to produce points as the drive stalled in Trojan territory.  Forced to punt, Waynedale punter Derek Reber placed a punt perfectly that was downed at the 2-yard line by gunner Chase Murphy.

Backed up deep in their own territory, the Trojans managed to pick up two first downs before being forced to punt.  Unfortunately, the Trojan special teams were unable to produce as a poor punt traveled just 9 yards and Waynedale took over at the Tusky Valley 36 yard line.

With Waynedale in scoring position, the Trojan defense did what all good teams must do. They responded to the poor punt by keeping the Bears off of the scoreboard.  The key play came with Waynedale facing a 2nd and 10 at the Trojan 17. The Trojan defense was able to force a negative play that saw the Bears pushed all the way back to the 29 yard line.  The Trojans would then take over on down two plays later and the Bears scoring threat was averted. 

 
The Trojan Defense held Waynedale running back Cedric Chupp to -2 yards on 11 carries

However, disaster struck on the very next play when Tristin Tesch took the handoff and gained 14 yards before losing control of the ball.  The Bear defense pounced on the ball and Waynedale was right back in scoring position with ball at the Trojan 29.

After keeping the Bears off the scoreboard just moments earlier, The Trojan defense trotted back onto the field once again having to respond after a negative play.  Not only did they respond but they responded in dominant fashion as Waynedale lost 7 yards on 3 plays and once again could not take advantage of a golden scoring opportunity.

While the Waynedale offense was struggling, their special teams were excelling as once again Reber would pin the Trojans deep in their own territory. Once again the Bears downed the punt at the Trojan 2 yard line and a holding penalty on Tusky Valley moved the ball half the distance to goal giving the Trojans possession at their own 1-yard line.

The Trojans were unable to move the chains and were forced to punt from their own 10.  Unfortunately, Trojan punter Sam Ray never got the chance to atone for his first punt as the snapped sailed over his head and out of the end zone for a safety and a 2-0 Waynedale lead with 9:03 remaining in the second quarter.

Neither team would mount an offensive threat for the remainder of the first half and the teams headed to the locker with the Bears holding a 2-0 lead on the strength of their outstanding special teams play.

The Trojans opened the second half with possession and moved the ball into Waynedale territory.  However, the drive stalled and the Trojans were unable to convert on 4th and 12 from the Waynedale 35 and the Bears took back possession at the Waynedale 29.

As they had done all night, the Trojan defense stuffed the Bears.  Waynedale ran three plays for only one yard before being forced to punt the ball right back to the Trojans.

Taking over at their own 26, the Trojan double wing offense began flexing its muscles.  The Trojans used 15 plays, advancing the ball 4 to 5 yards at a time, to move the ball to the Waynedale 11 as the third quarter expired.  Ethan Love then raced around the right end on the first play of the fourth quarter and dove just inside the pylon into the end zone to give the Trojans the lead.  Sam Ray’s extra point gave Tusky Valley a 7-2 lead after the 16 play drive that chewed up nearly seven minutes of game clock.

The Tusky Valley touchdown could have been a demoralizing blow to the Bears.  After all, Waynedale had just managed 34 of offense in their first six drives and now found themselves trailing for the first time  However, instead of quitting the Bear offense buckled down and produced their best drive of the night highlighted by Derek Reber’s 28 yard run.  Waynedale would finally take advantage of a scoring opportunity as Cedric Chupp would fight through Trojan tacklers and find the end zone on a 5-yard touchdown run with 6:22 remaining.  A successful 2-point conversion attempt put the Bears on top by a score of 10-7.

After dominating all night, suddenly it was the Trojan defense that was in need of being picked by another unit and the Tusky Valley offense wouldn’t let them down.  The Trojans used big runs from Toby Grossi and Tristin Tesch to move the the Waynedale 4-yard line in just six plays. Grossi would then find pay dirt as he powered his way into the end zone to reclaim the lead for the Trojans.  Sam Ray’s second extra point of the night gave Tusky Valley a 14-10 lead with 3;24 to play.

 
The Trojans celebrate the game winning touchdown with just 3:24 remaining

With one final chance, Waynedale used six plays to move to the Tusky Valley 31. However, the seventh play wouldn’t be lucky for the Bears as Tristin Tesch would intercept a Derek Reber pass at the 15 yard line to seal the victory for the Trojans.

Statistically, the Trojans dominated as they gained 240 yards rushing and had 16 first downs.  The Trojans did not attempt a pass in the game. Meanwhile, the Bears were limited to just 118 yards of total offense on the night.

The victory was the third in the row for the Trojans over the Bears and cut the Bears lead in the all time series to 9-8.

Tusky Valley will now move on to face long time rival Fairless.  The meeting will be the 37th all time between the two former PAC rivals with Tusky Valley holding a 22-14 series lead.  However, it is the Falcons who have won 4 of the last 5 including a 21-13 victory over the Trojans last year.