Big second half propels Tipp in rout of Piqua

Big second half propels Tipp in rout of Piqua

It was a Homecoming game to remember for the Tippecanoe football team, as they began a four-game stretch that coach Matt Burgbacher said was crucial following their win at Greenville last week

This week, Tipp took care of the first opponent, using a big second half to defeat Piqua 35-10 to move to 4-0 on the season.

“We needed that in the first half, we haven’t had adversity like that all season,” Burgbacher said. “That was good to see how the kids responded. Did we play perfect? No. We had way too many penalties and too many of the little mistakes. But to have that many mistakes and still beat a good football team by 25, that is a credit to these kids.”

Piqua scored first, and it was their only touchdown of the game. They moved downfield inside the Tipp 40 before they stared at a fourth down. After converting the first down, they moved inside the red zone and later scored on a one-yard run with 5:19 left in the first period to take a 7-0 lead.

The Red Devils answered on their next drive as Jackson Davis scored on a 41-yard run with 4:32 left in the period, tying the game at 7-7.

An 18-yard touchdown pass from Larkin Thomas to Davis with 34 seconds left in the first gave Tipp the 14-7 lead and they would never relinquish that.

Tipp came up with a big defensive series after Piqua moved the ball inside the five-yard line for a first-and-goal. Some big stops and a penalty moved Piqua back to the 11 and they were forced to kick a 30-yard field goal with 5:20 left in the half and the game went to halftime with Tipp leading 14-10.

Early in the third, Thomas took the ball in from seven yards out on their first drive of the third period to push the Tipp lead to 21-10, then later in the third the Red Devils put the nail in the coffin.

Thomas connected on a long pass to Will Strong on the drive, then he hit Strong on a 27-yard scoring pass with three minutes left in the third, making it 28-10.

In the opening minute of the fourth, Tipp moved into the Piqua redzone, and the drive ended when Xavier Melton scored from one-yard out to end the scoring with a 35-10 Tipp lead.

Even with the big win on the scoreboard, Burgbacher said Tipp has to clean up a lot of things moving forward during this stretch of tough games.

“We have to get those things cleaned up, we can’t be putting ourselves behind the eight-ball,” he said. “We would get a good play and we have to come back because of a holding call. Defensively we were reaching and not using our shoulder pads. We have to do a better job, but to be able to win the way we won was huge”