Tigers downed by Blue Devils
WYNOT—The Osmond Tigers football team suffered a loss on the road to the Wynot Blue Devils. The Tigers we defeated 42-40 in overtime.
Overall, the Tigers had a lead throughout basically the whole game until the Blue Devils were able to tie the game at the end of regulation and then ultimately in on a two-point conversion in overtime.
The Tigers inability to adjust defensively led to the team’s gradual downfall and ultimate demise.
“This loss is on me,” Tigers Coach Scott Morrison said. “I didn’t adjust our defense well enough, and as a result Wynot was able to gradually get themselves back into the game and tie it up.”
The game started out well for the Tigers who built a 20-0 lead into the second quarter.
After being forced to punt on their first possession, the Tigers drove the ball down the field quickly against the Blue Devils on their second.
This was thanks in large part to a long run by Connor Gutz (Jr., B/OLB), set up by some nice blocking up front. Josh Gansebom (Sr., B/DB) scored both the touchdown and the two-point conversion to put his team up 8-0.
Both teams punted on their final possession of the first quarter.
The second quarter started with a bang for the Tigers as Alex Vinson blocked a Blue Devil punt. Alexis Solorzano (Sr., C/DL/LB) picked up the punt and returned it inside the Wynot five yard-line.
This set up a short touchdown run by Bryan Solorzano (So., RB/DB), who used his blocking to get to the edge and then pushed his way into the endzone for a touchdown.
The two-point conversion was no good, and the Tigers were up 14-0.
This led to another Tiger touchdown on the team’s ensuing possession. The Tigers forced the Blue Devils to punt and put together another solid drive.
Alex Vinson ended up scoring the touchdown, and after a failed conversion, the Tigers held a 20-0 lead.
“The two-point conversions actually proved to be pretty important,” Morrison said. “Had we converted on a couple of these early, we would have been in a little position later in the game.”
As it was, Wynot got the ball back, and this is where the game changed completely. The Blue Devils switched out quarterbacks and changed to an aerial attack.
With this the Blue Devils were able to put the Tiger defenders in vulnerable one-on-one situations.
In this particular drive, Wynot scored their first touchdown. After the conversion failed, the Tigers held a 20-6 lead.
The half ran out as the Tigers were forced the punt and then intercepted a pass on the last play of the half.
In the second half, the Tigers started out really well as Alex Vinson picked off a pass and returned it for a touchdown. The conversion was no good and the Tigers held a 26-6 lead.
It took Wynot all of four plays to answer. The scored on a 30-yard pass and converted the extra points to cut the lead to 26-14.
With the momentum in their favor, Wynot forced the Tigers to a three-and-out and a punt.
Wynot again took the ball down the field and scored, thanks in large part to the pass. They failed on the conversion, but had now brought the score to 26-20.
The Tigers did respond well with a nine-play drive. The Tigers picked up two big first downs thanks to the feet of sophomore Patrick Vinson (QB/LB).
Gansebom also had a ten-yard run for a first down. Alex Vinson scored on a 6-yard run.
The conversion was good, and the Tigers were up 34-20.
After Wynot took possession after the kickoff, Zach Reikofski recovered a fumble to give the Tigers possession again.
The Tigers converted a fourth down play where Gansebom scrambled around the right end. However, they were set back thanks to a penalty, and ultimately ended up turning the ball over on downs.
Two plays later, the Blue Devils hit a big pass play down the sideline and were set up inside the Tiger five yard-line.
This led to a Blue Devil touchdown pass in the back corner of the end zone. The conversion failed and the score was set at 32-26.
Offensively, the Tigers took possession and couldn’t get anything going on first and second downs. Vinson scrambled for a gain of six on third down, and the Tigers were forced to give the ball right back to Wynot.
The Tigers defense did a great job in forcing the Blue Devils to a punt of their own; however, the Tigers committed two penalties on second down to push them back behind the chains.
They gain some ground back after a pass play from Gansebom to Alex Vinson; however, the long snap was sent over punters head into the endzone where Solorzano batted it out of bounds for a safety, putting the score at 34-28.
A great kick by Solorzano and penalty by the Blue Devils set Wynot back deep in their own territory at the eight yard-line with 2:45 left in the game.
The Tigers buckled down at this point and forced Wynot to a 4-and-out. Patrick Vinson made a great play to break up a pass on fourth down.
“I was really proud of our defense at this point,” Morrison said. “We had gone through a lot and survived it; we had guys step up and make plays.”
They took possession on the Wynot 15 with 1:58 on the clock. This gave the Tigers a false sense of satisfaction considering that the Tigers fumbled the ball right back to the Blue Devils on the next play.
Though the defense was making the Blue Devils work for it, Wynot was gradually making it downfield. They got a couple big first downs and then hit a play over the middle for a touchdown, tying the game at 34-34.
The game went into overtime, where the Tigers took possession and got great blocks from the line (senior linemen Landon Stelling, Logan Stelling, and Alexis Solorzano plus ends Zach Huwaldt and Zach Reikofski). This resulted in a 10-yard touchdown on the first play.
The Tigers failed on the PAT try and were up 40-34.
On defense, the Tigers made a big play on first down as Landon Stelling corralled the Wynot quarterback on a designed run play. Second down, though, saw the Blue Devils score on a post pattern, evening the score 40-40.
The Blue Devils then scored on the two-point conversion as the ball floated just over the outstretched hand of a Tiger defender, giving the Blue Devils the 42-40 win.
“Overall, this was a fun game, and one that answered a couple questions for us as a team. This was our first real 4-quarter test, and our guys came to compete through it all. There’s aspects of the game that we need to work on. It should be a fun rest of the season.”
TEAMS 1st 2nd 3rd 4th OT TOTAL
WYNOT 0 6 14 14 8 42
OSMOND 8 12 6 8 6 40
The Tigers junior varsity hosted Randolph on Monday, September 16 in a controlled scrimmage. They won the contest 44-0.
Members playing included junior Brenden Gillespie (E/DB), Blake Bahr (Jr., OL/DL), Patrick Vinson (So., QB), Bryan Solorzano (So., B/DB), Bradee Gubbels (Fr., B/E/OLB), Reese Hanna (Fr., OL/DL), Kayson Maertins (Fr., OL/DL), Zach Reikofski (Fr., OL/DL/LB), Alex Vinson (Fr., B/LB), and Caden Wingert (Fr., OL/LB).
The Tigers jumped to an early lead and continued to battle down the stretch. The defense created several turnovers including an interception for a touchdown by Gillespie and strip by Wingert.
All players were physical including Solorzano and Reikofski.
Solorzano had a nice game running the ball along with his counterparts Alex Vinson and Bradee Gubbels. At one point, Gubbels picked up a loose ball and ran it in for a score.
Reikofski made a couple nice catches offensively.
Bahr, Hanna, Maertins and Wingert blocked well throughout the game.
“It was great to get our guys out on the playing field,” Morrison said. “This is a fun group that loves football. They showed some great potential tonight!”