When you have to come from behind twice and win by a narrow 21-20 margin over previously unbeaten Crescent, expect some big plays.
Yes there were some.
1. A blocked punt by Clay Massey at the Crescent 36 picked up by Jake Morgan and ran from the 24 to the seven, setting up the second Tonkawa Buc touchdown.
2. Or how about the second effort (sometimes breaking tackles or churning through three or four defenders) running of tailback Tristan Burdick. He rushed for 245 yards on 28 carries, scoring twice. Two more runs of 37 and 19 were called back on questionable holding penalties, the latter for a touchdown.
3. And then there was the fourth down pass from freshman quarterback Ryan Morgan (he gets more poised every ball game) to fullback Jaidyn Guzman from 11 yards out to score the final Buc touchdown, and as it turned out, the winner.
4. or Carson Robinson’s interception in the fourth quarter to kill a Crescent drive kept alive by a so-called roughing the punter penalty giving them new life at their own 42.
5. Finally, late in the fourth period with a second and nine at the Buc 25 yard line, Jake Morgan sacked the senior Tiger quarterback for a seven yard loss. Two plays later the Bucs took over at their own 17 with 2:35 to go in the ball game and were able to run out the clock after picking up a first down at the 28.
While the first half of the game was mostly offense, the second half was just the opposite -- all defense from both teams.
The Tonkawa defense especially glistened. Led by Noah Campbell’s 12 tackles and some outstanding line play from Dante Mendoza, Miccael Brown and Clay Massey, Crescent managed but two first downs and 58 yards rushing the final two quarters.
While the Tigers weren’t able to muster much offense, unless helped by the yellow flag, Tonkawa got into scoring possession twice after their 21-20 first half performance.
To open the second half, the Bucs moved from their own 27 to the Tiger four with the help of a 66 yard run from Burdick. Crescent’s defense stiffened and kept the Bucs from getting into the endzone after four downs, coming up a yard shy of a first after four tries from the Tiger 13.
Taking over on their own four, Crescent was forced to punt. Burdick returned the 41 yard kick 26 yards ...
