Tipp survives thriller 25-22

Tipp survives thriller 25-22

A statement was made by the Tippecanoe Red Devils on Friday night.

The Red Devils have pretty much dominated all season long. But last week, they survived their first true battle of the season, winning at Troy 25-22 as the Trojans final drive fell short and Tipp improved to 5-0 on the season.

“It was one of those games where things didn't work out perfectly, but the kids responded well,” Tipp coach Matt Burgbacher said. “We made mistakes and had quite a few bad plays but Troy had great plays and Kirkpatrick is a good player. Our kids kept believing and we knew it was going to be a 48 minute football game.”

“We battled and stuck together, and when we needed it they stepped up.”

Tipp now prepares for the showdown against the team from the south as Butler comes to the Tipp Park on Thursday night to challenge the new solo leaders in the MVL Miami Division.

Butler lost to Xenia on Friday night. The game is scheduled for Thursday due to the Mum Festival festivities being set up in the park on Friday.

Tipp didn’t waste any time at Troy taking the opening drive down for a quick score. Larkin Thomas moved the Red Devils downfield with a series of short passes including a big fourth down conversion before the sophomore raced down the field to the one-yard line. Thomas then scored from short range giving the Red Devils a 7-0 lead 7:20 left in the first quarter.

Troy came right back and scored on a tipped pass that landed right in the hands of a Troy receiver who made it 7-6 as the opening quarter came to an end.

A huge punt block from Tipp set up the Red Devils with a short field early in the second and Thomas hit Jackson Davis down inside the ten yard line. Three keepers inside the two all came up short, and on a fourth-down play, Xavier Melton scored from a yard out, giving Tipp a 14-6 lead.

“We love to put pressure on the punter,” Burgbacher said. “This team has been doing it all year, our special team was outstanding. The kickoff coverage was great with great returns for field position.”

The Red Devils then executed an onside kick perfectly after a couple of penalties against Troy moved the kickoff up. Tipp could not score a touchdown on that series but Owen Baileys kicked a 20-yard field goal with 4:50 left in the half and Tipp was in total control 17-6.

The Trojans were not done. They used a deep pass inside the Tipp 20 with under a minute left to set up a five-yard scoring pass with 15 seconds left to cut the Tipp lead to 17-23 at the half.

The second half was quite an interesting 24 minutes. The Trojans scored with just over six minutes left in the third period to grab their first lead 19-17 after going for a two-point conversion. Tipp came right back and drove inside the 15 but Baileys just missed from 30 yards out.

Troy then picked off Thomas in the fourth quarter and the Trojans took over at their own 47. The Trojans took advantage of a flag against Tipp on a fourth down to give Troy the first down but the Red Devils defense stepped up and held Troy to a field goal with 5:51 left to push their lead to 22-17.

Just under three minutes came off the clock, including a big horse collar penalty against Troy, which gave Tipp a big first down. With 3:00 left, Thomas connected with Davis from 26 yards out to give the Red Devils a 25-22 lead.

Tipp’s defense held and the Red Devils took a collective deep breath as they dodged a big bullet on the road against a big league rival.

“We know they were out of timeouts, and we wanted to keep them in bounds,” Burgbacher said. “Defensively we gave up some yards and the most points we gave up all year. When we needed plays, we got them. It was just a true team effort.