McClain's defense stands in Panthers' way for SCOL win

With their defense holding the Panthers to zero points in the second half, the offense of the Tigers scored the go-ahead touchdown in the third quarter. 

But the win was far from sealed when that seven points was added to the Tigers' side of the scoreboard at Panther Stadium. 

In fact, it was a defensive stand on the game's final drive that earned the Tigers their fifth win of the season, giving members of the team an opportunity to soak head coach Randy Closson with water bottles in a postgame interview on the field. 

The final stand by the Tiger defense started on their own 36-yard line with 2:37 left on the clock. 

A 21-yard pass up the middle of the field by MT quarterback Tucker Hughes to a wide-open Derek Muncy put MT on the MHS 15-yard line. But four plays later, all the MHS defense allowed was two yards, with Zach Uhl breaking up a fourth-and-8 pass near the end zone pylon to give MHS possession with just over a minute remaining. MHS ended the game in a victory formation. 

The MHS defense held MT to a net total of 261 yards, while the MHS offense tallied 390 yards. 

Describing the play of his defense, Closson went back to what he said in the preseason. 

"Our guys held on. Like I've said before, they are the heart-and-soul," Closson said with a big smile on his face.

The win also broke a two-game losing streak, both SCOL games, against the Clinton-Massie Falcons and the Washington Blue Lions. (CM clinched no less than a share of the SCOL title Friday with a 49-0 win over the Blue Lions). 

"Just having those two losses to those great teams made our guys hungry for a win," Closson said. "Getting the fifth win, we wanted it for the seniors, and this shows we are getting the program in the right direction." 

But the story for MHS was the second half, with their offense scoring the lone touchdown of the final 24 minutes. 

The score came with 4:44 left in the third quarter, wrapping up a five-play, 80-yard drive with a Camron Cooper pass to Zach Matracia for a 69-yard touchdown. In Matracia's journey to the end zone, he caught the ball in the middle of the field, broke multiple tackles and traveled up the MT side of the field for six points. Luis Rivas converted the PAT for the seven-point lead. In that same drive, Matracia had a 12-yard run. 

Cooper finned 5 of 7 for 111 yards and two touchdowns passing. Matracia had 82 yards receiving on two receptions. 

Cooper produced on the ground, scrambling for 152 yards (10.1 ypc) on 15 carries, leading all rushers. Jared Loftis had 70 yards on 13 carries, and Matracia finished with 10 carries for 57 yards. 

A combined 42 points were scored in the first half by both teams, with the Tigers and Panthers each tallying 21. 

MHS (2-3, 5-3) was first to score. 

It took them just three plays to reach the end zone when Cooper, on a third-and 4 from the MHS 37-yard line, went on a 63-yard QB keeper run to the end zone with 8:59 left in the opening quarter. 

Though the Tigers forced a MT punt, the MT defense forced a fumble, regaining possession with Ethan Snyder recovering the football, taking it the the MHS 3-yard line on the Tigers' first play of the drive. 

MT scored on their first play after the fumble recovery with Snyder pounding the ball for three yards for a TD with 4:00 left in the quarter. 

"We made some mistakes, and Miami Trace capitalized," Closson said. "Credit Miami Trace, they played hard. This was a hard-fought game and win. This was just a great football game." 

Loftis and Cooper put the game in their hands on the ensuing drive with both players combining for 62 yards as Cooper went to the end zone on a 23-yard run, cutting outside to break free for the score, putting the Tigers back into the lead with 49.5 seconds remaining in the first. 

On the drive, Cooper had a 16 and 8 yard run, with Loftis having runs of 4, 3, 3 and the 23-yard score.  

MT responded on their first play of the next drive, tying the game at 14. 

The play was a 50-yard run by Clayton Dyer, who was slowed at first, then broke away for the score up the MT side line. Dyer finished with 143 yards rushing on 22 carries. 

The Panthers (1-3, 1-7) took the lead for the first time with 3:47 left in the first half. 

The score was a 24-yard score by Dyer, who broke an open-field tackle on his way to pay dirt. All three MT PAT's were converted by Mark Girton. 

MHS tied the game on their final offensive possession of the first half. 

The drive started at their own 7-yard line. It ended with a 3-yard pass from Cooper to Loftis with 9.5 left in the second quarter. In the 83-yard drive, Cooper had runs of 22 and 26 yards, along with a pass to Uhl for 19 yards and a pass to Matracia for 12 yards. Loftis had an 11-yard run during the drive. 

For the Panthers, Hughes finished 6 of 13 for 71 yards. Dyer had 27 yards receiving on three catches. Snyder had 14 carries for 22 yards. 

Next week the Tigers will hit the road, traveling to state-ranked (Division IV) Jonathan Alder. MT will host the Hillsboro Indians.

GAME NOTES: The Tigers will have a .500 or better season for the first time since the 2006 season … MHS held MT to two three-and-outs … Rivas had four PATs for MHS … Cooper unofficially had 143 yards rushing in the first half … Thorne Hester had a solo tackle on third-and-goal forcing MT to attempt a field goal (FG was no good) … Brandon Frederick (MT) recovers a MHS fumble with 1:22 left in the third quarter … This was McClain's ninth SCOL win since 2006 (the last time they had five wins in a season) ... The Tigers had three fumbles, recovering one.

MHS  14 7 7 0 — 28

MT    14 7 0 0 — 21