Tipp blasts Talawanda in playoff opener

Coming off a big win to close out the season finale at Xenia, the Tippecanoe Red Devils wanted to set the tone early in their playoff opener last week. The Red Devils did just that.

Scoring on all five possessions in the first half, Tippecanoe built a comfortable lead at the half and used a running clock in the second half to defeat Oxford Talawanda 49-7 to advance to the second round of the Division III playoffs this week. Tipp will host St. Mary’s at the park, 7p.m. kickoff.

“We came out and it did feel in the first half we were sleepwalking,” Tipp coach Matt Burgbacher said. “Maybe a little bit of a hangover from the game last week, and you come back from that big game, but it is even more important to get that focus.”

“I liked the kids' preparation this week, they prepared like champions. Talawanda was a dangerous team, they throw the ball all over the place. You can’t have that little breakdown, and I thought we did a great job tonight.”

Tipp scored on their opening possession when Larkin Thomas connected with Jackson Davis on a 27-yard scoring pass with 9:19 left in the first period, giving Tipp a quick 7-0 lead.

Thomas came back on the second drive and used his legs to increase the lead. He had two big runs that created first downs for Tipp, then capped off the drive with a 14-yard sprint into the endzone, making it 14-0.

The Red Devils defense allowed Talawanda to move the ball inside the 15 before stopping them on downs, allowing the Red Devils offense to go back to work.

It didn’t take long to get back on the board as Thomas hit Davis on a 32-yard scoring strike early in the second making it 21-0.

After a huge defensive play on fourth down by Collin Isaac, Ryan Kolb and Ben Bledsoe gave the ball back to the Tipp offense, Thomas connected with Davis for another touchdown from 47 yards out pushing the lead to 28-0 with 4:23 left in the half. The Red Devils capped the first half scoring when Thomas hit Will Strong with a 27-yard scoring strike to send the game into halftime 35-0.

Two more scores in the second half for Tipp came from Thomas to Cade Havill, along with a fourth-quarter run from James Merry to send Tipp to the second round.

Thomas threw five touchdown passes to add to his school record for a season and added a touchdown run. He unofficially threw for 319 yards on 14/15 passing, while Davis had 169 receiving yards.

Tipp now prepares for St. Mary’s in the final game for the Red Devils at the park this season.