The final bell has rung on one of the hardest fought, and closely matched games of the season. And yes that is the sound of the Tri-Valley Victory Bell ringing!! In a game that had a top score of 20 points which doesn’t sound like a lot until you look at how hard the Scotties worked to get those points. Tri-Valley knew going into this game that they would have a tough challenge against Sheridan and they knew they would have to play with all of the determination they could muster, and they did.
Sheridan set the tone as they scored the first touchdown against Tri-Valley with a quarterback run that looked like he was running on a figure eight track to get to the end zone. The touchdown was followed by the only special teams score that Sheridan would complete in the entire game bringing the score to 7 – 0 Generals.
Tri-Valley wasn’t about to take the score lying down and they pushed their way back to get close enough for #19 quarterback Aiden Fritter to perform his own fancy footwork by running the ball 28 yards for a touchdown. #46 Kaden Bay stepped up to complete the extra point tying the game at 7 for Tri-Valley.
Both teams battled the remainder of the half to try and break into a lead, in what looked like a game of ultimate tug of war. The ball would get dangerously close to the end zone for each team only to be turned back over, until the DAWGS got the ball close enough for Kaden Bay to edge ahead of Sheridan with a completed field goal attempt just seconds before the end of the first half giving the Scotties a 10-7 lead against the Generals going into halftime.
After the half Sheridan came out swinging, moving the ball ever so close to the end zone time after time, but Tri-Valley held their ground even against two failed field goal attempts by the Generals special teams.
The Scotties, on the other hand, came back in the 4th quarter to get their own chance at a field goal, and again #46 Kaden Bay capitalized on the chance and landed the Scotties at 13 – 7 lead with a field goal completion.
A very boisterous and seemingly overpacked crowd at the Jack could undoubtedly be heard for miles as each play rang out to let the Scotties know that they had their backs! The DAWGS had hopes that they would hold Sheridan off from any other scores so they could sail into victory, but with just over 3 minutes left in the game the Generals broke through the defense that had held them off so well all night to get a touchdown and bring the score to 13 – 13. With the extra point shot looming it seemed like things could go the other way, but #24 Chase Kendrick cut through the offensive line to stop the extra point attempt and held the score at a draw.
Tri-Valley fought back with everything they had to try to get another score on the board, the game came down to a game of mere seconds that drug out for minutes with the clock stopping at every incomplete pass or out of bounds completion not to mention Tri-Valley coaching staff using every time out they could to give the DAWGS a chance to get to that end zone. As we reported on social media play by play the comments showed the intensity “Tri-Valley has the ball on the 44 yard line with 32 seconds left”, “18 seconds left with the ball on the 26”, “10 seconds left with the ball on the 10” and then came the field goal attempt that fell short of pulling the Scotties to a much needed victory after such a heated battle. Instead the ball was turned over to Sheridan and a few seconds later the Scotties and the Generals went into their first overtime battle of the season.
After the coin toss Sheridan had offense first with a shot on the goal and they were quick to capitalize on it with a touchdown but once again they were unable to complete the extra point conversion and the score went to 19-13 Sheridan.
Without skipping a beat the ball was in the Scottie’s hands and it was time to see what they were really made of. The DAWGS acted quickly, so quickly in fact that it only took one play to get to a position where #22 Blake Sands could blast the ball through the end zone for a touchdown. With the crowd roaring so loud it was deafening Kaden Bay was once again put in the hot seat to be the deciding factor for the entire game and their undefeated record. The shot was up and GOOD!!! Tri-Valley beat Sheridan 20-19 and brought their season ranking to 7 – 0. It had to be arguably one of the most intense games in Tri-Valley history and a great one to watch.
#46 Kaden Bay had this to say about the game “I want to thank my teammates for getting us the push into the end zone that we needed”
