Tiger Football comes back from behind for dramatic win

It was just another example of how sage the advise of Yogi Berra was when he correctly surmised "It ain't over till it's over." For all the world, it appeared the Dripping Springs Tigers were done in the game with the New Braunfels Canyon Cougars when they trailed by 13 with 4.34 remaining. To add to the epitaph, a steady mist began to fall. Those who did not heed old Yogi's advise and left the game early because the Tigers had no chance of winning-- well they got a major surprise when they got home and found out the Tigers got their second win of the season with a 42-41 verdict.

Defense on both sides had problems preventing the big plays and stats continued to mount during the game due to these big chunks at a time. The biggest plays on both sides was by airmail.

Canyon opted to take the opening kickoff and their first two runs chewed up 46 yards before the

defense could rear up and hold them to three in the next four to give the ball back to the Tiger offense at the 22. Using a balanced attack, the Tigers marched the 78 yards in ten plays. Jacob Cox and Tanner Prewit had big runs with the final 13 coming on a Prewit to Ty Kaatz pass. Coleman Chapman added the EP. 7-0. Canyon did not take long to tie. They would move 75 yards in four plays. A perfect pass-run play covered the final 60. 7-7. Not to be outdone, the Tigers negotiated 70 yards in five. Cox and Parker Alford took the ball 46 yards in two plays and then Cox took it in from the 18. 14-7 after first stanza.

The second quarter continued the exchange of scores. First it was Canyon. They made it a 2-play, 82 drive when a perfect pass over the middle beat the defender and raced 80 yards for the tying score. 14-14. Back come the Tigers. Prewit opened the 77 drive with 17 and eight plays later finished it with a 4-run to retake the lead 21-14. Canyon moved the ball on the ground 65 yards in eight plays to score from the two. They decided to go for two and it was stuffed by the Tiger D. The 21-20 Tiger lead held up until the half.

Disaster struck the Tigers on the first play of the second half when the first play resulted in a fumble that Canyon recovered on the Tiger 23. The QB took it in on two plays. The run for EP was good to get them back on track at 28-21. It was three and out for the Tigers. With momentum Canyon scored on a 23-run to expand the lead to 35-21. The Cougars decided to be benevolent in the next Tiger drive by contributing to the drive with a personal foul and interference penalties. Cox would power it in from the three to get within a TD at 35-28. Tiger D was unable to hold the power backs of Canyon as they moved the ball 65 in seven plays, the last being two yards. Looking insignificant at the time, Josh Young blocked the EP to hold the score to 41-28. That score would hold up for the remainder of the third and late into the fourth.

A Tiger interception and a time-consuming drive to start the fourth by Canyon seemed to put the final nail in the coffin. Only 4.34 remained and Canyon had been controlling the situation most of the night. Through the air seemed the only choice. The first two were incomplete. On third down, Prewit found Cameron O'Banan behind the secondary. All that would have to be done was catch it for the TD. He did and continued into the endzone. 41-28. 4.11 remaining. It was now time for the Tiger D to be big. They were with a three and out leaving the Tigers with three minutes to work with. First they had to deal with a fourth and four, making a first down. Later it was third and ten from the 41. Kaatz beat his man inside and Prewit hit him in stride. The defender fell down and Kaatz trotted in for the tying points. Would not be a blocked point this time but Canyon's meant no overtime. Final 42-41.

Unfortunately for Tiger fans and players, there will be no more exciting games for the rest of the regular season. Blowouts should be the norm until the playoffs. Travis will be the first such Friday night at Burger Center. Kickoff time will be 7:30pm.

Game stats (DS first): First downs: 15-19; Rushing: 28-198, 55-348; Passing: 242-147; Passes: 14-29-1, 4-10-0; Punts: 4-36.8, 3-35.0; Penalties: 5-45, 4-37; Fumbles lost: 1-2, 0-0.

Tiger stats: Rushing: Cox 14-135-2TD; Prewit 11-43-TD; Alford 2-16; O'Banan 1-4. Passing: Prewit 14-29-1-3TD. Receiving: Kaatz 7-127-2TD; O'Banan 2-64-TD; Enzo Arnold 2-42; Ryan Davenport 1-6; Gage Duncan 1-3; Alford 1-0. PR:  Austin Hulon 1-5; KOR: Kaatz 3-25; Hulon 1-11.