Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
Serving Waitsburg, Dayton and the Touchet Valley
On the last play of the game, with Jacob Dunn holding the ball, WP kicker Antonio Benito kicked a successful extra point, to give the Cardinals a one-point overtime victory. Benito was successful on 32 out of 36 PAT attempts during the regular season.
PASCO - At the end of regulation play in Friday night's game here between Waitsburg-Prescott and Tri- Cities Prep, the score was tied 35-35. That's ten total touchdowns. And, just as importantly, that includes ten successful PATs (points after touchdown, or extra points). WP kicker Antonio Benito and TCP kicker Hogan Jones were each perfect through 60 minutes.
In the overtime period, each team had a chance to line up on offense at the opposition's 25-yard-line and attempt to score. WP won the OT coin toss and let TCP go first. They scored on a Michael Forbes three-yard run.
Then came the most important play of the game, to that point. As Jones attempted his sixth PAT of the night, WP defender Luke Alexenko charged from outside and got free enough to put his fingers on the ball and knock it away.
"Luke and Devin (Acevedo) had devised a plan to block it and with 100% effort," said WP Coach Jeff Bartlow of Alexenko's key play. "They came off the field like we won the game and right then I knew we would score and win."
It was now 41-35 Jaguars, with the Cardinals ready to line up for their shot from 25 yards out.
After moving the ball to the nine-yard-line, WP was hit with a penalty, resulting in first-and-goal from the 28. In three plays, the Cards moved the ball to inside the one-yard-line, bringing up the new "most important" play of the game.
On fourth and goal, in sudden death OT, WP faced defeat and a possible fourth- place finish in the league if they failed to score. Running back Chance Leroue punched it in, and the score was once again tied: 41-41.
Enter Benito. His kick was perfect, the Cardinals won the game, and they moved into a first-place tie with DeSales in the league as the season ended. Because the Cardinals beat the Irish this year, they take the number one seed into the playoffs.
Throughout the game, WP and TCP traded scores, and the lead, with the Cardinals in front 21-14 at the half. Quarterback Owen Lanning and Acevedo each scored on one-yard runs in the first half. Running back Chance Leroue ran the ball in from 22 prior to intermission.
Turnovers were key to WP's first-half scoring. TCP's first drive was stopped on the WP 30 when Acevedo stole the ball out of the hands of Jaguar QB Dane Pedersen. Later in the half, Acevedo picked off a Pedersen pass after WP lineman Triston Newman hit Pedersen's arm as he threw.
In the third quarter, Lanning connected with wide receiver Kobe Brown on a 56-yard touchdown pass to put the Cards up 28-14. After a Forbes 4-yard TD run, Lanning threw another scoring pass, this time to Leroue, from 27 yards out, making it 35-21 with 11 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. But TCP charged back, tying the game with 47 seconds remaining. After a Lanning Hail Mary pass was intercepted, overtime beckoned.
"It was back and forth like no other game I have been a part of," Bartlow said. "It was one of those games that the fans and players will be talking about for a long time to come."
For the game, Lanning was 11 of 14 passing for 176 yards and two touchdowns. His only interception was on the desperation pass at the end of regulation. Besides his three touchdowns, Leroue rushed 16 times for 131 yards, and also had three receptions for an additional 39 yards. Waitsburg-Prescott 42, Tri- Cities Prep 41
W-P714777-42
T-CPrep777146-41
W-P - Lanning 1 run (Benito kick).
TCP - Rudolph 61 run (Joneskick).
W-P - Acevedo 1 run (Benito kick).
TCP - Rudolph 2 run (Jones kick).
W-P - Leroue 22 run (Benito kick).
W-P - Brown 56 pass from Lanning (Benito kick).
TCP - Forbes 4 run (Jones kick).
W-P - Leroue 27 pass from Lanning (Benito kick).
TCP - D. Pedersen 2 run (Joneskick).
TCP - B. Pedersen 12 pass fromD. Pedersen (Jones kick).
TCP - Forbes 3 run ( kickblocked).
W-P - Leroue 1 run (Benito kick).
W-P TCP
First downs 11 20
Rushes/yards 33-130 58-262
Passing yards 176 132
Passes (att-comp-int) 14-11-120-9-1
Punts 3-24.7 1-19.0
Fumbles-lost 3-0 2-1
Penalties-yards 8-71 5-55
Individual Statistics
RUSHING - W-P: Leroue 16- 131-2, Lanning 11-18-1, Acevedo 3-14-1, Team 3-(-33); T-C Prep: Rudolph 26-119-2, Forbes 15- 66-2, D. Pedersen 16-78-1, Team 1-(-1). PASSING - W-P: Lanning 11-14- 1, 176 yards, 2 TDs; T-C Prep: D. Pedersen 9-20-1, 132 yards, 1 TD. RECEIVING - W-P: Acevedo 5-60, Leroue 3-39-1, Larsen 2-21, Brown 1-56-1; T-C Prep: Forbes 2-23, B. Pedersen 5-44-1, Jones 1-21, Cole 1-44.
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