For those that love
old-school physical football that's offended by high scoring football games,
the Turner Golden Bears - Piper Pirates football game was a reminder that
defense is still legal in high school football.
Turner defeated Piper 10-8
Friday night in Turner, leveling each school’s record to 3-3 on the season.
From each team’s opening
drives, it was easy to see that any score would matter significantly in the
wide-scope of the game.
Both Piper and Turner were
three-and-out in their first series – and it really did not get much better
from there.
After a stalemate most of
the first quarter, Turner linebacker Nick Rodriguez made the first big play of
the game. Rodriguez picked off a pass from Piper quarterback Taner Eikenbary. It
was the linebacker’s fifth interception of the season.
If Rodriguez’ defense was
not important enough for Turner Friday night, his special teams performance was
crucial. He capped off a first-quarter drive with a 28-yard field goal.
His punting was very good all night long, providing a nice amount of hang time on most of his punts, allowing the Turner special teams punt coverage to pin the Pirates deep into their own territory four times.
The game remained a 3-0
struggle most of the first half.
A few drives later, the
Turner defense appeared to cause a fumble. A Golden Bear defensive player scooped
the ball up and scored a touchdown.
However, the same line-judge
who made the call near the goal-line ruled that “forward progress” was made,
thus calling the play dead.
There was no whistle from the officiating crew until after the Golden Bear player recovered the fumble
Later in the second quarter,
Paul Berry capped off a touchdown drive with a five-yard score.
Still, that was the last
score Turner had in the game.
“Piper’s coaching staff did
a great job tonight,” said Turner head coach Allen Terrell. “They did some
things to confuse us. We don’t play well when we’re confused.”
Turner’s offense was limited
to just 150 yards of total offense. Quarterback Nick Bloomer only had six yards
of passing all night long.
But the Golden Bears defense
came up huge almost every chance they had.
They had a goal-line stand
from the one-yard line, as Piper could not punch it in the end-zone from
one-yard out on two attempts.
Piper scored on the next
possession after Turner botched a snap on a punt. The Pirates used a fake field goal
play on a two-point conversion, narrowing Turner’s lead to 10-8.
The fourth quarter was a
battle of attrition and any yard gained by either side was earned.
Late in the fourth quarter,
Turner’s defense stuffed Piper on a 4th and 1 to stop a drive that had crossed into Golden Bear territor. On Piper’s last drive
of the game, Turner's Andre McCallop intercepted a pass from Eikenbary, who returned in
the fourth quarter after a leg injury.
Piper gained about 60 more
total yards than Turner did, but turned the ball over three times.
“Our kids need wins,”
Terrell said. “Every team is banged up this time of year, but we’re coming in
with seven offensive linemen. They don’t get subbed out and they’ve had it
tough.”
Terrell, who offered a no
comment about the officiating, credited defensive coordinator Dustin Jamison
with the victory.
“DJ is the smart one,” he
said. “He takes in a lot of work. Ask his wife. He puts us in the right
position and spends hours on the weekend in preparation.”
Turner and Piper both begin district play next week.
