Scouts Lose Heartbreaker
Twin River Hands DC First Loss of the Year
by Cortney Couch
October 02, 2008
With the first three games out of the way, last Friday marked the beginning of District play for most teams in the state. The David City Scouts won the first three, but were starting over in a sense as they opened their district season at Twin River. The Scouts toppled the Titans last year, but Twin River brought back key players at skill positions, and a spread offense that had been dealing teams fits all year. It would take a mistake-free game to defeat the Titans this year, and the Scouts didn't play a mistake-free game.
Twin River opened the scoring on their third play from scrimmage. On a third and eight play from their own 25, the Titans ran a spread option left. Missed tackles, poor angles, and 75 yards later, the Scouts were down 7-0. DC bounced back, however, with three first-half touchdowns. The first came on a Travis W. pass to junior tight end Aaron S. in the corner of the end zone to tie the score at 7. The Scouts struck again when senior running back Taylor N. carried the ball in from 5 yards out for his second touchdown of the season. Mistakes reared their ugly head again, however, on the PAT, where the Scouts failed to convert. DC still held the lead 13-7, but that point would come up big later in the game. The Scouts struck a third time in the first half when sophomore running back Seth B. scored on a trap play from 4 yards out. The PAT was true this time, and the Scouts pushed their lead to 20-7 and looked to be seizing the momentum heading into halftime. Unfortunately, a mistake in coverage cost DC dearly before halftime, and the Titans were able to score on a 35-yard pass to cut the halftime advantage to 20-14.
Twin River would use the long pass to their advantage again in the third quarter, setting up another touchdown, and giving the Titans a 21-20 lead. Offensively, the Scouts continued to shoot themselves in the foot with a bad pitch here, breakdowns in pass protection there, and mental errors. The result was that the Scout were unable to score in the third quarter. Twin River looked to put the game away in the fourth quarter. The Scout defense forced a 4th and 10 on their own 20 yard line, but yet another mistake occurred when DC jumped offside, giving Twin River a 4th and 5 instead. The Titans scored on the next play to push the lead to 27-20. DC caught a break, though, when Twin River failed to convert on their PAT. With the lead at only 7 points, the Scouts had a chance to tie or win with a little over three minutes left in the game.
The Scout offense was able to muster one last mistake free drive, mixing the run and pass, converting first downs, using their time outs, and conserving the clock when they needed to. Despite the fact that they had a touchdown called back for aiding the runner, DC still was able to score on the last play of the game, cutting the Twin River lead to 27-26. Facing an important decision, the Scouts elected to go for the win and a two-point conversion. Unfortunately, it was ruled that Seth B.'s momentum had been stopped before he crossed the goal line, and the Scouts lost on the last play of the game, 27-26.
The Scouts' next game is at home on Thursday against Madison, who got their district season started off right with a win against Columbus Scotus. That game will be broadcast on 93.5 FM, and will kickoff at 7:00.
