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Tigers win fourth straight on Senior Night
By Eric Wade
Daily Mail Sports Editor
The Nevada Tigers football team got back into action at home for the final time in the regular season with a unique challenge ahead.
The Tigers were not only forced to play Friday night's contest in the coldest temperatures they've encountered all season, but were also forced to play for the first time this season in the rain. Those issues would have been a source of worry if the Tigers were just out to play a game, but that wasn't all that was on the schedule Friday night.
Prior to the contest, the 18 seniors on the Tigers roster were honored for their contributions to the team over the course of their careers, as well as the senior members of the Nevada Tiger Pride Marching Band and the Nevada Lady Tigers tennis team, cheerleaders and dance team.
Though the rain and temperatures had great potential to become a significant equalizer, the Tigers did come into Friday's contest with a significant advantage, on paper. Not only did the Tigers come into the contest on a three game winning streak while the Mustangs were winless in their first seven games of the season, but the Tigers have won the last two meetings with McDonald County.
The weather ultimately did play a significant role in what went on throughout the game on the field, but the Tigers ultimately proved that the better team can overcome such obstacles, taking the victory by a final score of 39-7.
"I told the kids, I felt like the only thing that could beat us was ourselves and at first, we had some trouble with the wet ball and the wet field," Tigers head coach Erik Yoakam said. "But the kids did a good job fighting through that."
The Tigers looked as though they would take full advantage of McDonald County's struggles as they mounted a strong drive. The Mustangs' defense bent, but never did break, however, as the Tigers committed the night's first turnover on a fumbled handoff between quarterback Alex Payne and Chance Mays.
Mays more than made up for that miscue shortly thereafter, however, as the Tigers defense had little trouble shutting down the Mustangs to give the ball back to the offense. The Tigers wasted little time taking the ball into the end zone on a drive that was capped off by Mays' 22-yard touchdown run to make it 6-0 with 8 minutes, 48 seconds left in the first quarter.
McDonald County was far from out of it, however, as the Mustangs took a strong drive of their own right down the field just a little more 5 1/2 minutes later. That drive was capped off by a 44-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Jake Wood to Cooper Underwood to make it 7-6 with 3:08 left in the opening quarter.
"We came out and we scored there right off the bat and had a good drive," Yoakam said. "We just couldn't put it away."
The Tigers' offense picked right back up where it left off on the first scoring drive, mounting yet another strong drive. Just like he did on the first scoring drive, Mays took the a 1-yard run into the end zone with 9:30 left in the half to make it 13-7.
A series full of errors for the Mustangs' offense got the Tigers' offense back on the field quickly, with the shortest field they saw all night. The Tigers wasted little time mounting a three-play, 10-yard drive that was capped off by a 3-yard touchdown run by Taylor Manes that made it 19-7 with 7:43 left in the half.
Just as the Mustangs looked as though they might be down and out, head coach Chris Gwartney's squad marched right down the field inside the Nevada 10. Just when it looked as though the Mustangs might cut the lead back to one score, Davin Weeks put an emphatic stop to the drive as he picked off a pass from Wood in the end zone.
The Tigers were unable to take advantage of the turnover, however, and ultimately took a two-score lead into the locker room at halftime.
By the time the half came to an end, the Tigers showed why they were the favorite as they led in nearly every statistical category. The only area in which the Mustangs had the edge was the 80 gross passing yards Wood put up in the opening half to just 7 for Payne.
The Tigers outgained McDonald County in total yardage, however, 204-147. The biggest advantage for Nevada came on the ground as the Tigers rushed for 197 yards to just 67 for the Mustangs in the opening half.
The Tigers picked right back up where they left off with the running game as they mounted yet another strong drive to open the second half. For the third time on the night, Mays capped off the drive with a touchdown run -- this time, for 26 yards to make it 25-7 with 7:23 to go in the third quarter.
The Tigers put what appeared to be the final nail in the coffin just a little bit less than 5 minutes later, when Payne took it upon himself to cap off another strong drive with a 2-yard touchdown run. That made it 32-7 Nevada with 2:46 left in the third quarter.
Cole Sanderson moved over to get in on the on the next drive for the Tigers as he took his only carry of the season, up to this point, into the end zone. That was more than the Tigers needed as they had the contest well in hand, leading, 39-7, with 8:43 left in the contest.
That was where the scoring ended and the Tigers ultimately held on to take the 32-point victory to put a cap on what is always one of the most significant nights of the season.
"It's good for the kids," Yoakam said of the victory on such a special night. "It's good for the seniors to get in there and get them a win there, maybe for the final home game."
By game's end, the Tigers dominated all across the board, offensively, rushing for 224 yards in the second half alone to bring their game total to 421, to go with 7 passing yards. The Mustangs finished the night with 113 rushing yards and 96 more through the air.
Leading the offensive onslaught for the Tigers was Mays, who finished the night with 146 rushing yards on 13 carries.
"Good hard-nosed kid," Yoakam said of the junior fullback. "He's one of those kids that I could say, 'Chance, run through a brick wall,' and he'd run through a brick wall and not even ask questions. Those are special kids to have on your team."
Not far behind Mays was Manes, who finished the night with 114 rushing yards on 17 carries.
"It's kind of a good little dual threat," Yoakam said of the pairing of Mays and Manes. "Chance is real good up the middle and Taylor's good at hitting the edge.
"But, you know, Taylor has become a complete back. He's starting to put his shoulder down and lay the boom on people and it effects you toward the endof the game. You know, if he's only getting 4 or 6 yards, but he's getting a hard 4 or 6 yards, by the time the fourth quarter comes around, that wears defenses down."
With the win, the Tigers finally reached the .500 mark for the first time this season, knotting their record at 4-4 with one regular-season game left. That game comes next week when the Tigers take to the road one more time to face the Tigers of Stockton High School.
It's unknown just yet whether or not the Tigers will be able to jump up any more spots in the Class 4, District 7 standings, but Yoakam's message is simple as the Tigers continue their quest to be a playoff contender.
"Keep winning and maybe we'll get lucky and get back home, eventually," he said. "If you keep winning, you'll eventually get a home game."
The Tigers will get their final chance to make that jump in the standings during the regular season at 7 p.m., Friday, at Stockton High School.