By Tony Strickland

The Blanchard football Lions took their first tumble of the season on Friday night in a spotlight matchup t rival Tuttle. Missed opportunities told the tale for the Lions in the 28-7 loss as drives inside the Tiger 10 just before half and again early in the final frame each came up empty. The undefeated Tigers, meanwhile, were sparked by TDs from standout senior Brady McAdoo on a 46-yard TD reception and a 99-yard punt return TD.

UP NEXT: The Lions (7-1, 4-1) head to Madill on Friday to take on the Wildcats (1-6, 0-4). Madill’s sole victory came over 2A Marietta in week 3 by a score of 35-3. Lopsided Wildcat losses have come against Kingston, Dickson, Tecumseh, Tuttle and Ardmore. Madill also narrowly fell to Chickasha, 26-21.

Friday’s matchup was key for the standings in District 4A-2, with the winner most likely locking up 1^st place with just a pair of regular season games to go. The Tigers now hold the upper hand after their win, but the Lions can still reap rewards from their likely second place finish.

“This obviously drops us down to second in district, which means we still get a home playoff game,” Lion Head Coach Jeff Craig said after the game.”

“But then most likely we’ll end up traveling to Wagoner for round #2 and that’s a good team that looks poised for yet another deep playoff run. But we’ve been there before, so we know what we’re getting into. No rest for the weary and we’ll have to go earn it.”

Craig also noted multiple Lion mistakes that contributed to Friday’s loss.

“We had a couple of big busts that really hurt us – one on McAdoo’s long touchdown catch where we’re supposed to stay on him and we come off of him and he makes us pay for it. Then we surrender a couple of turnovers and the good punt return – special teams and turnovers make a huge difference in this kind of a game.

“We came out to start the second half and really did some good things within the scope of our offense. They were really bailing out in pass coverage and we needed to run it and we did. Then when they piled up inside and we needed to throw it, we went after that. And we had guys in position to make some catches, but we threw too many balls out of bounds and didn’t give our playmakers a chance at the ball a lot of times. We just didn’t execute the little things in the big situations.”

The Tigers drew first blood in the matchup after stopping the Lions on downs midway through the first quarter. They took over at their own 38 and bit off big chunks with the short passing game before junior QB Cruz Campbell launched deep to McAdoo for the long TD and a 7-0 lead.

Tuttle doubled the lead late in the first after McAdoo returned a Lion punt from midfield the length of the turf for a huge score. The ensuing Lion drive flirted with an answering TD after senior wideout Coric Pierce took a long throw from senior QB Hudsen Periman away from a Tuttle defender at the Tiger 24. The drive ended moments later on 3rd-and-13 as the Tigers picked off a pass from sophomore quarterback Noah Smith at the Tuttle 8.

The Lion offense threatened again as the first half wound down as Periman and Pierce connected for 21 yards on 3rd-and-23, then lured the Tiger D into jumping on 4th down. Periman found senior tight end Nathan Mosher to the Tuttle 33, then found Pierce to the 23 and junior Reston Vickrey inside the 5-yard line with 17 seconds to go before half. A bobbled snap on 4th-and -1 doomed the Lion scoring effort, however, and the rivals went to the break at 14-0.

The Tigers expanded their lead early in the 3rd after sniffing out a Lion fake punt and forcing the incomplete pass. McAdoo and company took over at their own 43 and got a big catch-and-run to the Lion 13, with a personal foul tacked on the end of it. Junior runner Shawn Rounsaville was across from 7 yards out a play later to push the Tuttle lead to 21-0.

The Lions found their offensive rhythm and answered the Tuttle TD with an 80-yard, 17-play drive of their own keyed by clutch Periman completions to Pierce and Cole Watkins. Watkins gathered in a pass in his favorite spot (the big junior seems like he’s always money along the sideline inside the opponent 10), before the Lions benefitted from a defensive pass-interference call 2 plays later. Pierce rammed across from a yard out at the 2:40 mark of the 3rd and senior Alex Price added the PAT to close the gap to 21-7.

The Tigers put themselves in a hole with an unsportsmanlike call on the next drive and Watkins delivered a 3rd down sack to force a punt.

Periman and Pierce combined to convert a 2nd-and-long, then Smith stepped in and delivered a bullseye to Pierce on a slant to the Tuttle 29. Roughing on the Tigers set the Lions up at the Tuttle 15, but a 4^th down throw fell incomplete to end the opportunity. The Tigers took over with under 10 minutes to play and mounted a 12-play, clock-eating drive that ended with a Rounsaville 3-yard touchdown run with 3:04 left in the contest. A final Lion possession with under 2 minutes left failed on downs near midfield.

LION NOTES

Rivals Collide It was a playoff atmosphere with tempers hot and emotions high on Friday night as multiple unsporty calls marred the game. Another one probably could have been called in the second half as a Tiger DB (who shall remain unnamed) attempted the most obvious flop you’ll see this side of pro soccer. Shoulda gotten 15 just for the poor acting. Sheesh.

Defensive Leaders

Senior Gunnar Fugett logged 14 stops, while junior Gage Eillson rung up 13. Senior Brayson Carter had 12 and junior Cole Watkins had 10. Watkins also added a pair of sacks, bringing his impressive season total to 8.

Offensive Leaders

Periman completed 24 of 31 for 257 yards and Pierce grabbed 9 passes for 132 yards. McIntyre led the rushing attack with 28 yards on 13 carries.

Scoring

First Quarter – T (8:30) – #12 Cruz Campbell 46 yard pass to #11 Brady McAdoo (#23 Garrett Ogg PAT); T (0:13) – McAdoo 99 yard Punt Return (Ogg PAT).

Third Quarter – T (8:31) – #27 Shawn Rounsaville 7 yard run (Ogg PAT); B (2:40) – #3 Coric Pierce 1 yard run (#30 Alex Smith PAT)

Fourth Quarter – T (3:04) – Rounsaville 3 yard run (Ogg PAT).

Individual Lions

Passing: Hudsen Periman 21-34-2, 257yds; Noah Smith 3-11-0, 42 yds.

Rushing: Vaughn McIntyre 13-28yds; Gunnar Fugett 8-16yds; Coric Pierce 1-1yd, TD; Hudsen Periman 6-(-2); Noah Smith 2-(-10).

Receiving: Coric Pierce 9-132yds; Cole Watkins 6-75yds; Brayson Carter 5-49yds; Nathan Mosher 2-24yds; Hudsen Periman 1-10yds; Reston Vickrey 1-9 yds.

Tackles: Gunnar Fugett 14, Gage Ellison 13, Brayson Carter 12, Cole Watkins 10, Coric Pierce 7, Kade Saunders 4, Hudsen Periman 4, Gavin Rich 4, Luke Meeker 3, Nathan Mosher 2, Brayden Stacy 2, Colin Cooksey 2, Jase Jackson 2, Reston Vickrey 2.

Sacks: Cole Watkins 2

Kicking: (Kickoffs) Matthew Campbell 2-36.5avg (Punting) Noah Smith 2-36.5avg; (PATs) Alex Price 1-1 Returns: (Kickoff) Coric Pierce 1-9 yds (Punt) Pierce 2-11 yds.

 

 

Like us on FACEBOOK  @BlanchardNews