Indians Win Thriller!
What a game! The action was balanced and exciting, the lead changed several times, the outcome was not decided until the final seconds of the contest, and the Indians won! What more could anyone want from a St. Francis High School football game. The Indians defeated the visiting Quinter Bulldogs 37-30 on September 26th in an extremely competitive contest.
Quinter won the toss and elected to defer to the second half. St. Francis received the kickoff on the north end of Greene Field. The kickoff was short and recovered by Garrett Brunk at the 23-yard line. On the third play from scrimmage, Justin Pacheco cruised 47 yards to the Quinter 4-yard line to set up 1st & goal. On 3rd & goal, Pacheco dove into the end zone for the first Indian touchdown. The PAT kick by Cade Bracelin was good. The Indians led 7-0 with 9:22 left in the first period.
The kickoff was returned by Quinter's Brett Crist to the Bulldog 23-yard line. The ball was fumbled but recovered by the Bulldogs. The Indian defense held strong, and the Bulldogs punted on 4th down.
The punt was returned by Taylor Rogers to the St. Francis 25 yard line. The Indians had difficulty moving the ball against the Quinter defense. After gaining no yards on first down, Pacheco earned a hard five yards on second down. Quarterback Clay De Waal was thrown for a loss on 3rd down, and the Indians punted the ball back to the Bulldogs. The punt rolled dead at the Quinter 10-yard line.
Facing 4th and 2 deep in their own territory, Quinter punted. St. Francis set up offense on the 24 yard line.
Runs by Cade Bracelin and Justin Pacheco preceded a 4th & 1 for the Indians. Pacheco's second effort run on fourth down earned just enough for the first down. On the play, Quinter was called for a facemask penalty, and the ball was moved to the 40. The yardage gift was soon returned as the Indians committed a holding penalty on the next play. On 2nd & long, a pass from Clay De Waal to Cade Bracelin picked up a few yards, but the Indians were still facing 3rd & 20. On third down, the Indians were sacked for a loss. On 4th & 31, the Indians allowed the quarter to expire so they could punt with the breeze. Unfortunately, the punt was blocked by the Bulldogs and recovered on the St. Francis 5-yard line.
Two hard runs by Devontae Goldsby moved the ball within one foot of the goal line. On third down, Justin Pacheco caught the Bulldogs behind the line of scrimmage for a 9 yard loss. A 4th down pass attempt was intercepted by Taylor Rogers who was tackled at the St. Francis 3-yard line.
Deep in their own territory, the Indians committed an illegal shift on first down moving the ball even closer to the goal line. On the repeated first down, Bracelin gained a yard. On 2nd down, Pacheco tried the left side and found enough room to advance the ball out to the Indian 14-yard line for a first down. Clay De Waal scrambled for 7 yards on 2nd down. A third down pass from De Waal was plucked out of the air by Kyler Zweygardt for an Indian 1st down at the Quinter 35. Justin Pacheco had a nice run on the next play, and the Bulldogs committed a facemask penalty on the play. The resulting 1st down play found De Waal passing to Bracelin in the right flat for another 1st down. On first & goal, De Waal ran around the right side for another Indian touchdown. The PAT kick was low and blocked. The Indians led 13-0 with 6:02 left in the 2nd quarter.
Bracelin's kickoff sailed into the end zone for no return, and the Bulldogs began on the 15-yard line. The Indian defense earned a sack on third down, but also committed an unsportsmanlike penalty. Quinter had another 1st down on the 32. On 3rd & 8, a Quinter pass resulted in a 1st down at the St. Francis 36-yard line. On the next play, Quinter fumbled the football, and Justin Pacheco grabbed the ball in mid-air and returned it to the Quinter 39 yard line.
De Waal picked up 6 yards on a QB sneak. A 2nd down pass from De Waal was intercepted by Quinter's Jonah Ruckman. It appeared as if the Indians might retain the football, but the flag thrown on the play was for an ineligible receiver downfield by the Indians.
Quinter took over at the Bulldog 20-yard line. The Indian defense held strong. Facing 3rd & 8, the Bulldogs attempted a pass. Quinton Cravens and Justin Pacheco defended the intended receiver well, and the pass fell incomplete. Quinter punted. The kick was short and out-of-bounds at the St. Francis 28-yard line.
St. Francis fumbled on the their first play from scrimmage. Tyler Waggoner recovered the ball on the 25-yard line for Quinter with 1:40 left in the first half. The Bulldog's 1st-down pass was complete, but ruled to be caught out-of-bounds. On 2nd down, Kyler Zweygardt made a nice tackle on the Quinter ball carrier for no gain. St. Francis called time-out with 1:14 left. Quinter's talented running back, Devontae Goldsby, picked up 7 yards on the next play. On 4th & 3, Goldsby faked a pass and ran to the Indian 16 yard line. Goldsby picked up 5 more yards over the right side on the next play before being stopped by Bracelin's tackle. A facemask penalty on 2nd down stopped the clock again and moved the ball closer to goal line. With 19.5 seconds left in the first half, Tyler Waggoner's pass was caught by Brett Crist in the right corner of the end zone. Another Waggoner to Crist pass was complete for the conversion points. The Bulldogs had reduced the lead to 13-8 in the final seconds of the 1st half.
After the kickoff, the Indians advanced the ball 10 yards in two plays in 12.8 seconds before the halftime buzzer sounded.
The Indian kickoff was very short, and Quinter took over with good field position on their own 36-yard line. The Indians received two nice defensive plays, a good tackle by Garrett Brunk on Goldsby on 2nd down, and a well-defended screen pass by Pacheco on 3rd down to set up a 4th & 8 situation for Quinter. Quinter elected to attempt the first down rather than punt. The 4th down pass fell incomplete.
The Indians took over on the Quinter 38 yard line. Three plays later, the Indians fumbled the ball away. Brett Crist recovered the fumble for the Bulldogs on the Quinter 37-yard line.
On third down, a Bulldog pass advanced the ball to the 3-yard line. On 1st & goal, Quinter fumbled the ball, but also recovered and advanced the ball into the end zone for a touchdown. Goldsby passed to Chad Mohler for the conversion points. The Indians trailed 13-16. with 8:53 left in the third period.
Brunk returned the kickoff to the SF 27-yard line. De Waal ran to the 36 on 1st down. On the next play, De Waal ran to the Quinter 25-yard line. On 4 & 3, Bracelin banged to the 15-yard line for another 1st down. The Indians were threatening again. On first down, the Indians fumbled but recovered the football for a 5-yard loss. On 2nd down, a neutral zone infraction backed the Indians up another 5 yards. On the next play, a holding penalty put the Indians in a 3rd & 20 situation. De Waal's pass to Taylor Rogers was complete but lost 3 yards on the following play. On 4th down, The Indians punted in an attempt to pin the Bulldogs deep in their own territory.
Quinter took possession at the 10-yard line. On 3rd & 5, the Bulldogs completed a screen pass for a big gain, but the play was nullified due to an ineligible receiver downfield. On 4 &11, the punt snap sailed over the punter's head for a safety. The margin narrowed to 15-16 with 2:51 left in the third period.
The kickoff was returned by Taylor Rogers for an apparent Indian touchdown. Unfortunately, a penalty on the Indians erased the outstanding return. St. Francis set up on their 26 yard line. The Bulldogs intercepted a De Waal pass to end the Indian possession.
Quinter again had good field position, taking over on the St. Francis 30-yard line. A 1st down pass was dropped in the end zone preventing an apparent touchdown. On 4th & 3, after a Quinter time-out, the Bulldogs completed a pass to Crist and advanced the ball to the 3-yard line. On the next play, Goldsby dove to the pylon on the left side for a Quinter touchdown. The conversion run attempt was stopped by the Indians. The Indians trailed 15-22 with 1:16 left in the third.
The short kickoff was recovered by Brunk at the Indian 31-yard line. Justin Pacheco rambled 51 yards over the right side for an Indian touchdown on the following play. Cade Bracelin powered in over left guard for the conversion. The Indians had answered. With 1:02 left in the third period, St. Francis led 23-22.
Quinter returned the kickoff to their 19-yard line. On the first play from scrimmage, a pass from Waggoner to Ruckman covered 61 yards for a Bulldog touchdown. Crist caught a Waggoner pass to complete the conversion. Quinter regained the lead, 23-30, with 43.2 seconds left in the third quarter.
Two plays into the St. Francis possession, the third quarter expired. On 4th & 1 at the St. Francis 34, the Indians ran the football in an attempt to gain a first down. The Bulldog defense rose to the occasion and made a stop inches short of the line-to-gain.
Quinter took over on downs at the SF 35. Brunk made a nice defensive play on 1st down to stop the Bulldogs for no gain. Quinter fumbled on 2nd down but recovered setting up 3 & 11. The third down pass was intercepted by Quinton Cravens.
Quinter was called for a facemask penalty on first down moving the ball to the 33-yard line. On 4th & 10, De Waal passed to Bracelin for a 1st down at the St. Francis 37-yard line. On the next play, Justin Pacheco ran around the right side for a touchdown with 6:38 left in the game. The conversion pass attempt fell incomplete. The Indians still trailed 29-30.
With the kickoff in the end zone, the Bulldogs began their possession on the 15 yard line. Bracelin made a nice tackle on 1st down, but Goldsby broke loose on second down for a big gain. The play was nullified due to an illegal block penalty on Quinter. On 2nd & 8 at the 7-yard line, a Quinter pass attempt was nearly intercepted, but fell incomplete. On fourth down, Quinter punted out-of-bounds at their 33 yard line giving the Indians great field position.
Runs by Pacheco and Bracelin earned a first down at the 22 with 3:11 left. On 4th & 1, the Indians attempted to draw the Bulldogs off sides by using a long count. The Bulldogs did not bite. St. Francis called time-out with 1:01 remaining. With good blocking up front, Justin Pacheco ran to the 8-yard line setting up 1st & goal, but time was clicking away. Another Pacheco run was followed by a St. Francis time-out with 40.8 seconds left. On the ensuing play, St. Francis was called for holding, and the ball was moved back to the 16-yard line. A 1st-down pass fell incomplete. Clay De Waal ran out-of-bounds to stop the clock at 22.7 seconds on 2nd down. De Waal ran to the 6 on 3rd down. On fourth down, Taylor Rogers sprinted to the right pylon for the winning touchdown with 7.7 seconds left. Avoiding Bulldog tacklers enroute, De Waal danced into the end zone for the conversion. The Indians had regained the lead 37-30.
The Bulldogs attempted a pass back across the field on the kickoff return. The pass was deflected the Travis Rogers, and the Bulldogs had .8 seconds for one last play. Garrett Brunk defended a hook-and-ladder pass well to seal the Indian win.
The Indians will play Rawlins County, in Atwood, on Friday October 3.
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