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Tiger junior varsity gridders stun McDonald County on final play of regulation, prevail 34-32
Trey Moore will go down in Nevada Tiger football lore.
Banged up from a hand injury suffered in the first half, and having also absorbed a mammoth hit while playing in the defensive backfield on the previous series — the sophomore tailback took a handoff, gained the left edge, and scampered 18-yards to paydirt as time expired in regulation, propelling the Nevada Tiger junior varsity football team to a 34-32 walk-off victory over Big 8 Conference arch-nemesis McDonald County Mustangs on Monday night.
Nevada led 14-8 at halftime, and extended their advantage to 20-8 midway through the third, courtesy of J.D. Downing’s short TD run. Downing then plowed into the end zone on the two-point play.
McDonald County trailed 28-16 with five minutes remaining in regulation. Junior quarterback John Howard, however, caught fire, connecting with Dylan Allison for a 40-yard TD strike, followed by a successful two-point play, trimming Nevada’s advantage to 28-24.
After a defensive hold, Howard led the Mustangs on a another long scoring drive, punctuated by a 12-yard quarterback keeper around the left edge. The two-point run handed McDonald County a 32-28 advantage with 34 second remaining in regulation.
Needing a miracle, Nevada quarterback Dylan Beachler engineered a 7-play 67 yard scoring drive.
“(The final play) was a ‘criss-cross buck sweep,’” noted Nevada head varsity coach Wes Beachler, who was present on the Nevada sideline for the dramatic conclusion. “Kind of a standard play for us. But we’re just really proud of the kids. Ethan Forkner did a good job of getting out and blocking the guy we assigned him to and leading (Moore). And it was a great job by Trey of getting to the outside and then getting to the corner.”
Added Beachler: “I’m just proud of them they didn’t quit. It would have been real easy for them to hang their heads. That’s an exciting way to win a ball-game.”