West Fork knocked out of 7 on 7 by Springdale
Posted on Thursday, July 17, 2008
URL: http://www.nwanews.com/wrvn/Sports/4098/
West Fork played Springdale twice in a matter of hours at the Vype 7 on 7 tournament on Saturday. One game turned out well for the Tigers, and the other was a heartbreaker at the buzzer.
The Tigers defeated the Bulldogs, 30-24, in the last round of pool play. The two teams met again in the first round of elimination games and Springdale got revenge beating West Fork, 24-23, on a last-second turnover on downs which gave the Bulldogs two points and the win.
West Fork started slow in the first game, but mounted a comeback to take the victory. Isaac Muggy sealed the game for the Tigers with a diving catch in the back of the end zone with less than 30 seconds remaining.
“ We came out a little flat to start, but that was to be expected after playing six games yesterday, ” West Fork coach Rodney Selph said. “ After the slow start we got things rolling both offensively and defensively. The defense stepped up when we needed them to. ”
West Fork scored first on a length-of-the-field pass from Daniel Holiday to Taylor Genz. It didn’t take Springdale long to recover as Ashton Glaser launched a 40-yard pass on the first play to tie the score at six.
Springdale then stopped West Fork on its next possession to take an 8-6 lead. Springdale then pushed the lead to 15-6 on another Glaser bomb.
The Tigers struck back quickly on another Holiday to Genz hookup. Genz then intercepted a Glaser pass and the two connected again for their third touchdown of the game.
“ Taylor and Daniel are both senior leaders and they are both going to be three year starters this year, ” Selph said. “ We expect a lot out of them and I am proud of them. I thought they competed hard and did the things we wanted them to do. ”
Holiday and Genz started the first game of elimination off the same way. West Fork had first possession and once again the touchdown pass went Genz’s way as the Tigers took an early 7-0 lead.
Springdale came right back and scored on its first possession, but failed to convert the 2-point try. The Bulldogs got the two-points back to take an 8-7 lead after stopping the Tigers on their second possession.
Springdale took advantage of the lead and scored again rather quickly to take a 9-point lead at 16-7.
West Fork bounced back with another Holiday touchdown pass. This time the pass went to Lee Gaesswitz who made a diving catch in the end zone to secure the touchdown.
Springdale scored again on its next possession, but West Fork answered quickly. Holiday threw his third touchdown of the game to a third different receiver, this time Brad Bean, who had the ball batted away, but was able to recover and bring the ball down for the score.
Genz seemed to seal the game for West Fork on Springdale’s next possession. He came up with an interception that gave Tigers a 23-22 lead with less than two minutes left on the clock.
Springdale forced West Fork to turn the ball over on downs and was awarded two points for the stop. The Bulldogs then ran out the clock and won by the slimmest of margins 24-23.
Despite the loss, Selph was proud of his team’s effort in the tournament. He was also upbeat for upcoming season at West Fork.
“ Springdale is a great team and I thought we played well against them as well as the whole weekend. I am proud of our guys, ” Selph said. “ Anytime you can go out and play competition like that it is going to benefit you. ”