Red Devils now 6-0, defeat Butler 25-7

Tipp survives thriller 25-22

It was a day of big plays for the Tippecanoe football team as they delivered on both sides of the ball to earn a 25-7 win over Vandalia Butler. They improved to 6-0 on the season, taking a two-game lead in the Miami Division of the MVL. Butler falls to 4-2 overall and is two games behind in the division.

Both teams struggled with turnovers and penalties, but in the end, the Red Devils had a huge interception in the opening period. That was a game changer, along with two long touchdown passes to open up the game and allow them to remain unbeaten.

“It was a huge win for us. I thought our kids prepared well this week,” said Tippecanoe coach Matt Burgbacher. “I thought we did well throwing the ball. Even with missing a couple of guys, that’s what guys want, that opportunity to get out there and play.”

Tipp’s defense went to work on the opening drive from Butler when Max Deckard made a big interception to give the Red Devils the football deep in Butler territory. The Red Devils converted two fourth-downs on the short field before Butler’s defense stood tall, holding them on a first-and-goal inside the four and forcing a field goal, giving Tipp a 3-0 lead.

After both teams were forced to punt, it was a defensive play that Tipp fans can look back on as a play that turned this game around.

Butler was on their way to score as Mason Reckner led them inside the ten with a long pass to Braylen Crump. On a third down pass in the endzone, it was Lucca Adkins who made an acrobatic one-handed interception to give Tipp the ball.

Tipp was then forced to punt, and the Aviators turned their next drive into points. A 15-yard touchdown pass from Reckner to Crump gave Butler a 7-3 lead with 7:34 left in the half.

“Our big thing defensively was bend but don’t break and force them to take another snap,” Burgbacher said regarding the earlier end zone interception. “We stopped them twice inside the five-yard line and forced them to take another snap, and good things happened for us. We don’t want to give up that big long pass but our kids keep battling and don’t give up.”

Tipp then answered following the Butler score when Larkin Thomas connected with Jackson Davis on a 55-yard touchdown pass to regain the 9-7 lead.

Another big stop by the Tipp defense on the next drive saw Dylan Herndon with a big interception off a tipped pass, setting up another scoring drive for Tipp. Xavier Melton scored from five yards out, making it 16-7.

Owen Baileys connected on a 21-yard field goal with 0.7 left in the half, and Tipp was in control 19-7 at the break.

Tipp added another score in the third period when Thomas hit Davis with another long pass, 59 yards, to push the lead to 25-7.

Thomas ended with 229 passing yards, with 128 of them going to Davis in the air. Crump had 88 receiving yards to lead Butler’s attack. Defensively, Butler’s Riley Seibert had 12 tackles to lead their defense, including seven solo. Chris Preece had eight tackles to lead the Red Devils.