Stone Bridge scored early in the second quarter then gave up 21 unanswered points to go into the locker room trailing 21-7. Stone Bridge then went back on top 27-21 early in the 4th quarter until a late Tusky score put Tusky back on top. Stone Bridge had one final chance but came up short on a FG and lost 28-27. The game had two big momentum surges (Tusky in the 2nd quarter, SB in the 4th), some questionable play calling and dicey execution, and some missed special teams opportunities.
SB won the toss and elected to receive the ball. After moving a few yards to the Tusky 44 yard line, they elected to go for it on 4th and 4. The Johnson run came up short and Tusky took over on their own 41 yard line. After a three and out, SB had their second drive begin on their own 13 yard line. After three plays SB faced another 4th down, this time at their own 21 yard line. Questionable call-they elected to go for it on a direct snap to Mell and he was stopped short. Tusky had a great opportunity and reached the SB 15 yard line where they faced a 4th and 3, but went for it instead of attempting a FG and the pass was incomplete. SB took over on their own 15 and reached the SB 33 yard line and faced a 4th and 5; they got a long Tatum to Thompson pass to reach the Tusky 35. Facing 3rd and 15 at the Tusky 40, SB benefited from a PI call and now had 3rd and inches at the Tusky 25. After a 3 yard run to extend the drive, two Tatum runs moved the ball to the Tusky 9 yard line. SB then scored on a flea flicker, Tatum to Thompson, to jump in front 7-0 (Baron XP) with 9:37 remaining in the 2nd quarter. Tusky started their next drive on their 22 yard line and went 78 yards to score on a 41 yard Allen to Jenkins pass play to tie the game at 7-7 (Skirkanich XP) with 5:14 to play in the 2nd quarter. After an intentionally short Tusky KO (questionable call?) SB started their next drive on their own 49 yard line. They soon faced a 4th and 8 at the Tusky 49 but got just enough on a Tatum to Thompson pass to get the first down. SB then faced a 4th and 6 at the Tusky 37 but Jenkins intercepted Tatum to stop the SB drive. Starting at their own 31 yard line Tusky then drove 69 yards, helped by a long run to the SB 40 and a PI on consecutive plays, and capped by a 25 yard Allen to Jenkins pass to put Tusky in front 14-7 (Skirkanich XP) with 41 seconds left in the half. Tusky pooched the next KO and recovered on the SB 42 yard line. Reaching the SB 14 with 11 seconds to play in the half, Tusky's Allen pitched the ball to West who hit Jenkins for a 14 yard passing TD and Tusky led at the half 21-7 (Skirkanich XP).
Tusky received the ball to start the second half and SB needed a stop. They thought they had it when they forced Tusky to punt after three plays, but Johnson fumbled the short punt and Tusky's Escobar recovered at the Tusky 30 yard line to give Tusky another set of downs. Tusky failed to capitalize and punted again, this time giving SB the ball on the SB 41 yard line. A 39 yard Tatum to Thompson pass got SB to the Tusky 13 yard line, but a holding call pushed SB back to the 25 yard line. After an incomplete pass a PI call on Tusky had SB on the Tusky 12 yard line, and Tatum hit Thompson for the 12 yard TD to pull SB within 21-15 (2XP pass, Tatum to Williams) with 6:18 to play in the 3rd quarter. (Another questionable call to go for two-if you miss, you are down by 8, will probably have to try a 2XP later just to tie, and both defenses were doing well overall). Tusky took the ensuing kickoff and started at their own 20. Facing a 4th and long at their own 39 yard line, Tusky had some confusion getting into formation and an illegal procedure call resulted in the negation of a very long pass play that reached the SB 7 yard line. Later, Tusky faced a 4th and 6 at the Tusky 24 yard line and got a 10 yard Allen run to keep the drive alive, but once again faced a 4th down when it was 4th and 7 at midfield. The Tusky pass was incomplete and SB took over at midfield, trailing 21-15. This time SB reached the end zone, capping the drive with a 2 yard Nell run to tie the score at 21 all (Baron XP wide) with 10:51 remaining in the game. SB elected to go for an onside kick, which was successful, and they had another opportunity when they got the ball on the Tusky 45 yard line. Facing 4th and 10 at the Tusky 45 yard line, Tatum found Thompson for a 35 yard gain to the Tusky 10 yard line. Tatum then hit Thompson for an 8 yard passing TD and SB was in front, 27-21 (Baron XP missed wide) with 9:20 to play. Tusky's next drive went three and out, giving SB the ball on their own 49 yard line. Facing another 4th down, 4th and inches at the Tusky 41, Nell fumbled the direct snap and lost a yard to give Tusky the ball on their own 42 yard line with about 5 plus minutes left. Tusky ran three plays then faced a 4th and 8 with the pass attempt falling incomplete; SB took over on the SB 44 yard line. SB soon faced a 4th and 3 at the Tusky 49 yard line but their pass was also incomplete. Tusky now had the ball on their own 49 with less than 4 minutes left. Helped by a defensive PI call, they were soon on the SB 36 yard line. They got a 10 yard Kolocuris run to the SB 25 yard line, then a 17 yard Allen to Thorne pass to the SB 8 yard line where they had first and goal. West then ran it in from 8 yards out and Tusky went ahead, 28-27 (Skirkanich XP) with 1:58 to play. Stone Bridge took the KO and Gillis went 55 yards to the Tusky 30 to give SB hope. The first SB play, a short Tatum run and an unsportsmanlike penalty on Tusky pushed the ball to the Tusky 15 yard line. The second play resulted in a Donofrio sack of Tatum and SB was now on the 24 yard line. IMO, this was poor execution-Tatum rolled out to his right and had a wide open receiver about 10 yards down field but, for some reason, did not even attempt to get him the ball-the resulting sack was critical to the upcoming FG attempt. After two incomplete passes and facing 4th and 18, SB was forced to attempt a 41 yard FG with 41 seconds left. The kick was well short and Tusky ran out the clock to advance to face the winner of Brooke Point-Stafford in the state semifinal game next Saturday.
SB won the toss and elected to receive the ball. After moving a few yards to the Tusky 44 yard line, they elected to go for it on 4th and 4. The Johnson run came up short and Tusky took over on their own 41 yard line. After a three and out, SB had their second drive begin on their own 13 yard line. After three plays SB faced another 4th down, this time at their own 21 yard line. Questionable call-they elected to go for it on a direct snap to Mell and he was stopped short. Tusky had a great opportunity and reached the SB 15 yard line where they faced a 4th and 3, but went for it instead of attempting a FG and the pass was incomplete. SB took over on their own 15 and reached the SB 33 yard line and faced a 4th and 5; they got a long Tatum to Thompson pass to reach the Tusky 35. Facing 3rd and 15 at the Tusky 40, SB benefited from a PI call and now had 3rd and inches at the Tusky 25. After a 3 yard run to extend the drive, two Tatum runs moved the ball to the Tusky 9 yard line. SB then scored on a flea flicker, Tatum to Thompson, to jump in front 7-0 (Baron XP) with 9:37 remaining in the 2nd quarter. Tusky started their next drive on their 22 yard line and went 78 yards to score on a 41 yard Allen to Jenkins pass play to tie the game at 7-7 (Skirkanich XP) with 5:14 to play in the 2nd quarter. After an intentionally short Tusky KO (questionable call?) SB started their next drive on their own 49 yard line. They soon faced a 4th and 8 at the Tusky 49 but got just enough on a Tatum to Thompson pass to get the first down. SB then faced a 4th and 6 at the Tusky 37 but Jenkins intercepted Tatum to stop the SB drive. Starting at their own 31 yard line Tusky then drove 69 yards, helped by a long run to the SB 40 and a PI on consecutive plays, and capped by a 25 yard Allen to Jenkins pass to put Tusky in front 14-7 (Skirkanich XP) with 41 seconds left in the half. Tusky pooched the next KO and recovered on the SB 42 yard line. Reaching the SB 14 with 11 seconds to play in the half, Tusky's Allen pitched the ball to West who hit Jenkins for a 14 yard passing TD and Tusky led at the half 21-7 (Skirkanich XP).
Tusky received the ball to start the second half and SB needed a stop. They thought they had it when they forced Tusky to punt after three plays, but Johnson fumbled the short punt and Tusky's Escobar recovered at the Tusky 30 yard line to give Tusky another set of downs. Tusky failed to capitalize and punted again, this time giving SB the ball on the SB 41 yard line. A 39 yard Tatum to Thompson pass got SB to the Tusky 13 yard line, but a holding call pushed SB back to the 25 yard line. After an incomplete pass a PI call on Tusky had SB on the Tusky 12 yard line, and Tatum hit Thompson for the 12 yard TD to pull SB within 21-15 (2XP pass, Tatum to Williams) with 6:18 to play in the 3rd quarter. (Another questionable call to go for two-if you miss, you are down by 8, will probably have to try a 2XP later just to tie, and both defenses were doing well overall). Tusky took the ensuing kickoff and started at their own 20. Facing a 4th and long at their own 39 yard line, Tusky had some confusion getting into formation and an illegal procedure call resulted in the negation of a very long pass play that reached the SB 7 yard line. Later, Tusky faced a 4th and 6 at the Tusky 24 yard line and got a 10 yard Allen run to keep the drive alive, but once again faced a 4th down when it was 4th and 7 at midfield. The Tusky pass was incomplete and SB took over at midfield, trailing 21-15. This time SB reached the end zone, capping the drive with a 2 yard Nell run to tie the score at 21 all (Baron XP wide) with 10:51 remaining in the game. SB elected to go for an onside kick, which was successful, and they had another opportunity when they got the ball on the Tusky 45 yard line. Facing 4th and 10 at the Tusky 45 yard line, Tatum found Thompson for a 35 yard gain to the Tusky 10 yard line. Tatum then hit Thompson for an 8 yard passing TD and SB was in front, 27-21 (Baron XP missed wide) with 9:20 to play. Tusky's next drive went three and out, giving SB the ball on their own 49 yard line. Facing another 4th down, 4th and inches at the Tusky 41, Nell fumbled the direct snap and lost a yard to give Tusky the ball on their own 42 yard line with about 5 plus minutes left. Tusky ran three plays then faced a 4th and 8 with the pass attempt falling incomplete; SB took over on the SB 44 yard line. SB soon faced a 4th and 3 at the Tusky 49 yard line but their pass was also incomplete. Tusky now had the ball on their own 49 with less than 4 minutes left. Helped by a defensive PI call, they were soon on the SB 36 yard line. They got a 10 yard Kolocuris run to the SB 25 yard line, then a 17 yard Allen to Thorne pass to the SB 8 yard line where they had first and goal. West then ran it in from 8 yards out and Tusky went ahead, 28-27 (Skirkanich XP) with 1:58 to play. Stone Bridge took the KO and Gillis went 55 yards to the Tusky 30 to give SB hope. The first SB play, a short Tatum run and an unsportsmanlike penalty on Tusky pushed the ball to the Tusky 15 yard line. The second play resulted in a Donofrio sack of Tatum and SB was now on the 24 yard line. IMO, this was poor execution-Tatum rolled out to his right and had a wide open receiver about 10 yards down field but, for some reason, did not even attempt to get him the ball-the resulting sack was critical to the upcoming FG attempt. After two incomplete passes and facing 4th and 18, SB was forced to attempt a 41 yard FG with 41 seconds left. The kick was well short and Tusky ran out the clock to advance to face the winner of Brooke Point-Stafford in the state semifinal game next Saturday.
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