Second Half Shutout Ends Cowboys Season

Last Friday the North Gem Cowboys set off to face the Tri-Valley Titans in the first round of the 1A football playoffs.  The Titans finished the regular season as the number two team out of the third district's Long Pin Conference.  Tri-Valley’s only loss on the season came to their district champions Council.  The Cowboys ended their regular season with a loss to district rival Rockland dropping them to the third place spot in the Rocky Mountain Conference.  That loss and position meant that the Cowboys would have to hit the road traveling to Cambridge to play the Titans.  On paper the Titans looked like heavy favorites.  The two teams had two common opponents on the season.  The Titans beat Mackay 64-0 early in the season then slipped by Garden Valley 26-24 late in the year.  The Cowboys faced Garden Valley early in the season losing 12-44 then beat Mackay convincingly 62-12 in mid October.  A long road trip against a one loss school seemed to be imposing but the Cowboys were not intimidated.

The game started with North Gem receiving the opening kick.  On the very first play from scrimmage Craig Yost took the ball off the right side of the line and ripped off seventy-four yards and a touchdown.  Rusty Hatch followed that up with the two point conversion and just fifteen seconds into the game North Gem led 8-0.  It didn't take long for the Titans to answer back.  After getting a good return on the ensuing kickoff on their first play from scrimmage Tri-Valley went forty-six yards for the score.  Just thirty-four seconds into the game we had a total of four offensive plays, including two point conversion attempts and the score was 8-6 in favor of the Cowboys.  Following the Titans kickoff the fast paced game came to a grinding halt.  The Cowboys would use up nearly eight minutes of game time on their next drive.  That drive ended in a six yard touchdown run by Rusty Hatch and North Gem extended the lead to 14-6.  Tri-Valley, looking to move a little quicker than the Cowboys, went to the air and completed a deep pass play, answering the Cowboys score just one minute later in the game, cutting the lead to just two points again at 14-12.  With the momentum in their favor the Titans then kicked an onside kick which they successfully executed.  With a short field and time running out in the first quarter the Titans moved quickly down the field once again and grabbed their first lead of the game scoring with just fourteen seconds left taking a 20-14 lead into the second quarter.

In the second quarter North Gem once again controlled the time of possession with another long grinding drive.  This time they chewed up eight and a half minutes before tying the game at twenty points each off of another Hatch run.  The Titans once again tried to move quickly down the field getting inside the twenty yard line of the Cowboys.  That is when North Gem made the first defensive stand of the game and turned the ball over on downs with just forty seven seconds left in the half.  With a lot of green grass ahead of them to the end zone it was  thought that the Cowboys would not do much in the short time left but on their first play of the drive Hatch slipped through the defense and ran the ball all the way down inside the twenty.  The Cowboys got to the ten yard line but time did end up running out on them and the teams went to halftime tied at 20.

The Cowboys had to kickoff to the Titans to open up the second half.  Following yet another good starting field position the Titans struck quickly retaking the lead 28-20 with over ten minutes left in the third.  If you are a fan of defense you loved the rest of the third quarter.  Neither team was able to get into scoring position and the quarter ended with North Gem facing a long fourth and eight.

The Cowboys opted to take a risk and opened the fourth quarter up with a fake punt.  Unfortunately, they came up a little short and turned the ball over on downs to the Titans.  On the next play the Cowboys would temporarily lose a crucial part of their team when Yost was forced out of the game with leg cramps.  Tri-Valley took advantage of having Yost off of the defense and scored on a misdirection play increasing the lead to 36-20 with over ten minutes left in the game.  Yost re-entered the game and the Cowboys were on the drive again.  Despite the depth disadvantage the Cowboys kept fighting, pushing the ball downfield.  However the fresh bodies being rotated in by the Titans eventually won out and the Cowboys turned the ball over on downs once again.  With several Cowboys now showing signs of fatigue and some light limps the boys showed real grit and toughness by fighting on.  The Titans added one more score late and the Cowboys season came to an end in a 42-20 defeat.  The Cowboys will need to do some recruiting in the offseason due to half of their team being seniors.  As for the five seniors, they can finish their careers knowing they left it all on the field and fought right to the end.