Late Defensive Stand Secures Win
The first varsity eight-man football game for the St. Francis Indians was a good one! The Indians defeated the Brewster-Triplains (BTP)Titans 26-20 on Greene Field in St. Francis on September 5, 2014. Both teams played well for the first game of the season. The Indians moved the ball well offensively, and played aggressively on defense. The Indians also had a few turnovers and penalties that occurred at critical times in the contest. The outcome of the contest was not decided until the final seconds of the game.
The Titans won the coin toss and elected to receive. The kickoff was returned to the BTP 20 yard line. The Titans wasted little time showing how they planned to attack offensively. The first down pass was incomplete, but another pass on second down went for 21 yards. On the next play, Kyler Zweygardt sacked the Titan's quarterback for a seven-yard loss. Another pass advanced the ball to the 34, but the Titans were forced to punt on 4th-and-5. The Indians got a piece of the punted ball and took over at the St. Francis 38 yard line.
Justin Pacheco picked up 8 yards for the Indians on first down. Cade Bracelin banged for a 1st down on the next play. Another dose of Pacheco/Bracelin resulted in a first down at the Titan 20 yard line. On first down, Pacheco rammed into the line for 4 more yards. On second down, Taylor Rogers gained two more. Unfortunately, the drive ended when the Indians fumbled and lost the ball at the Titan's 14 yard line.
The Titans did not maintain possession long, as they fumbled on the next play. Justin Pacheco recovered the football for the Indians on the Titan 21 yard line.
The Indians had regained momentum, and wasted little time in scoring. Cade Bracelin pounded to the 15 on first down. Taylor Rogers scrambled all the way to the 2 yard line on the next play. Justin Pacheco dove to the 1 and then scored over right guard on the next play. Clay De Waal ran for the conversion points, and the Indians held an 8-0 lead with 4:05 remaining in the first period.
TPB returned the kickoff to their 25 yard line. Four plays later, the Titans punted. The punt was muffed by Taylor Rogers, and the Titans recovered on the St. Francis 25 yard line. A roughing-the-passer penalty on the Indians moved the ball to the 15, but the Titans committed a holding penalty on the next play to return the ball to the 25. On 3rd down, a middle screen pass moved the ball to the St. Francis 19 yard line. On 4th down, Titan quarterback Ryan Gfeller completed a touchdown pass to Jaden Schmidt with 0:50 left in the first quarter. Taylor Rogers broke up the conversion pass attempt. The Indians held a slim 8-6 lead.
Rogers returned the kickoff to the Indian 27 yard line. A Clay De Waal keeper up the middle for 6 yards, was followed by a run over the left side by Cade Bracelin for a 1st down at the Indian 39 as the first quarter expired. On second down, the Indians fumbled again. The Titans recovered on the St. Francis 36 yard line.
On the next play, a sack by Jeremiah Neitzel was negated by a horse-collar tackle. On 3rd-and-9, Kyler Zweygardt sacked the Titan quarterback for a large loss setting up a 4th-and-18 situation. The Titians punted the ball out-of-bounds at the 2-yard line placing the Indians deep in their own territory.
Four plays later, two runs by Pacheco and one each by Bracelin and Garrett Brunk, the Indians had moved the ball out to the St. Francis 28 yard line. On 4th and 2, the Indians attempted to draw the Titans off-side with a long count, but the Titans did not jump. On 4th down, De Waal ran to the 40 for a 1st down. Three carries later, Bracelin banged to the BTP 27 for another 1st down. On 4th-and-8, quarterback Clay De Waal completed a pass to tight end Kyler Zweygardt for a 23 yard touchdown with 1:42 left in the 2nd quarter. The conversion attempt failed, but the Indians had increased their lead to 14-6.
Cade Bracelin's kick-off went in the end zone for no return. The Titan's took over that the 15 yard line. BTP's first pass attempt fell incomplete, but the next two passes advanced the ball to the 28 yard line earning a 1st down with 52 seconds left in the first half. The Titan's next pass attempt was batted down by Kyler Zweygardt. On 3rd-and-10, a pass to the right flat resulted in another first down (0:32). With 32 seconds left, another pass resulted in an 8 yard gain. On 2nd-and-2, Zweygardt tackled Gfeller for a a short gain. The 3rd-and-1 play resulted in a procedure penalty against the Titans (0:07). The final play of the half found Zweygardt applying good pressure to the Titan quarterback, and Quinton Cravens and Taylor Rogers defending the intended receiver extremely well. The first half ended with the Indians up 14-6.
Taylor Rogers returned the Titan kickoff to the Indian 33 yard line to open the second half. On 2nd down, Clay De Waal scampered around the right side all the way to the Titan 36. Two carries later, one each by Rogers and Garrett Brunk, the Indians had another first down at the TPB 13 yard line. An encroachment penalty on first down backed the Indians up, but De Waal scrambled to the 3-yard line on the next play. Brunk dove to the 1 to gain another 1st down. The next play resulted in another Indian touchdown when Cade Bracelin pounded into the end zone with 8:11 remaining in the third period. Again, the conversion try failed. The Indians led 20-6.
BTP returned the kickoff to their 26 yard line. On 1st down, Gfeller ran around the right side to midfield. The following play resulted in a Titan fumble which was recovered by Jude Faulkender.
Clay De Waal ran for 13 yards to the TPB 27 on first down. On the next play, De Waal sprinted all the way to the end zone, but the play was nullified due to holding penalty on the Indians. Three running plays later, the Indians had earned a first down at the 15 yard line. On first down, De Waal ran all the way to the Titan 1 yard line. The Indians were threatening again. On 1st down, the Indians were stopped for no gain. On 2nd down, the Indians committed an encroachment penalty and were backed up to the 6 yard line. After a Bracelin run for two yards, De Waal was thrown for a loss back to the Titan 8. St. Francis called time-out with 3:51 left in the third to setup a scoring play. The play ended at the two yard line, and the Titans took over on downs.
Brewster-Triplains advanced the ball for a first down at the 16 yard line in three plays. A pass play quickly moved the ball to the 36. On the first play of the 4th quarter, Gfeller's pass to Alvaro Ramos moved the Titans to the Indian 4 yard line. The Titans fumbled on the next play, but recovered the football. On 2nd and goal from the 6, a pass in the right flat was intercepted by Garrett Brunk and returned to the Titan 30 yard line.
A holding penalty set up a 1st-and-19 situation, and four plays later the Indians faced 4th-and-7. A fake punt failed to result in enough yardage for a first down, and the Titans took over on the Titan 34 yard line with 8:53 remaining in the game.
A pass advanced the Titans to the 10 yard line. A second pass, this one in the right flat, resulted in a Titan touchdown. The conversion pass fell incomplete. The Indians led 20-12 with 6:20 left in the contest.
Taylor Rogers fielded the kickoff and returned it 65 yards for a much-needed Indian touchdown. The conversion failed. The Indians had gained a bit of breathing room, 26-12.
Travis Rogers made a nice tackle on the Indian kickoff pinning the Titans deep in their own territory at the 13 yard line. A few plays later, Jace Jorgensen sprinted 52 yards for Titan touchdown. The conversion points were good on a keeper around the right side. The Titans had narrowed the deficit to 26-20 with 3:49 left.
After the kick return, the Indians set up on their 26 yard line. On 3rd-and-1, the Indians fumbled the snap. TPB recovered on the St. Francis 34 yard line with 2:23 remaining. On 2nd down, a pass in the right flat resulted in a Titan 1st down at the 20 yard line with 1:20 to go. Another pass play moved the ball to the 13 (0:59). After two more plays, an incomplete pass and a run, the Titans earned first-and-goal at the 10 yard line with 47 seconds left. Taylor Rogers and Garrett Brunk stopped the Titan ball carrier on the next play for a three yard gain. With 4 seconds remaining, the Titan's 4th-and-5 play was stopped by the St. Francis defense at the three-yard line to secure an Indian victory.
Below are videos of the last two plays of the game:
Next to last play......
The Indians will play Greeley County in Tribune on Friday, September 12th, at 7:00 p.m.
Click on the photos to see more photos!
