Pioneers deal Bearcats first loss
Lead Summary
By
Steve Roush-
BAINBRIDGE – Paint Valley allowed just two pass completions and played bend-but-don’t-break defense most of the night, but a 7-yard touchdown run by Colin Swackhammer in the fourth quarter proved to be the difference as the visiting Pioneers handed the Bearcats a 14-7 loss Friday night.
Zane Trace (1-0, 2-2) spent most of the second half in Paint Valley (0-1, 2-1) territory, but the Bearcats’ defense stood its ground as Pioneer kicker Conner Smith missed a pair of field goals in the third quarter. PV, however, couldn’t capitalize as Zane Trace held the home team on their side of the field the entire second half.
The game was tied at 7 at the end of the first, second and third quarters, but Zane Trace converted on a critical 3rd and 9 as quarterback Tyler Hinty completed a 21-yard pass to Swackhammer that took the ball down to the PV 18. Swackhammer, a 5-foot-10, 195-pound senior, carried the ball for 6 and 4 yards, respectively, before taking it to the house from 7 yards out to make the score 14-7 with 7:38 left in the contest.
With 2:58 left in the game, the Bearcats began to move the ball as freshman quarterback Anthony McFadden hit Teagan McFadden for an 11-yard gain to the PV 44, then the quarterback picked up two more yards on a scramble, but Zane Trace defensive back Jesse Cox picked off a pass two plays later and the visitors were able to run out the clock and leave town with a seven-point win.
“That’s high school football right there. Hats off to both teams,” Paint Valley head coach Pete Hollon said. “We’ve got some tough kids, and we did what we could do to win the game. We battled, but in the end, pretty much our own mistakes did us in. We had a couple of dropped passes, a few key penalties and a couple of bad snaps there, and against a team like that, they’ll make you pay for those mistakes.
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“It was just a good, hard-nosed football game.”
Zane Trace took a 7-0 lead in the first quarter as junior running back Nate Mettler broke off a 66-yard touchdown run, but the Bearcats came right back with a touchdown of their own.
Anthony McFadden found Teagan McFadden for a 14-yard completion to begin the drive, then senior running back Quentin Tesi broke off runs of 20 and 17 yards to take the ball inside the Zane Trace red zone. Senior back Kyle Kottenbrook picked up 4 more yards before Tesi took it the final 8 yards to tie the contest at 7.
Paint Valley made it into Zane Trace territory in each of its second-quarter drives, but a delay of game penalty on a fourth-and-two play at the 31-yard-line forced a Bearcat punt, and the Pioneers were able to drive a scrambling Anthony McFadden out of bounds inside the ZT 30 on the final play of the first half.
“We knew it was going to be a tough game,” Zane Trace coach Gary Peters said. “Our defense settled down after they scored, and this helps going forward. Paint Valley is a good, young team. We’re not as young, but we’re a green team, and this was a good win tonight.”
Paint Valley hits the road next Friday as the Bearcats play at Southeastern.
Zane Trace (1-0, 2-2) spent most of the second half in Paint Valley (0-1, 2-1) territory, but the Bearcats’ defense stood its ground as Pioneer kicker Conner Smith missed a pair of field goals in the third quarter. PV, however, couldn’t capitalize as Zane Trace held the home team on their side of the field the entire second half.
The game was tied at 7 at the end of the first, second and third quarters, but Zane Trace converted on a critical 3rd and 9 as quarterback Tyler Hinty completed a 21-yard pass to Swackhammer that took the ball down to the PV 18. Swackhammer, a 5-foot-10, 195-pound senior, carried the ball for 6 and 4 yards, respectively, before taking it to the house from 7 yards out to make the score 14-7 with 7:38 left in the contest.
With 2:58 left in the game, the Bearcats began to move the ball as freshman quarterback Anthony McFadden hit Teagan McFadden for an 11-yard gain to the PV 44, then the quarterback picked up two more yards on a scramble, but Zane Trace defensive back Jesse Cox picked off a pass two plays later and the visitors were able to run out the clock and leave town with a seven-point win.
“That’s high school football right there. Hats off to both teams,” Paint Valley head coach Pete Hollon said. “We’ve got some tough kids, and we did what we could do to win the game. We battled, but in the end, pretty much our own mistakes did us in. We had a couple of dropped passes, a few key penalties and a couple of bad snaps there, and against a team like that, they’ll make you pay for those mistakes.
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“It was just a good, hard-nosed football game.”
Zane Trace took a 7-0 lead in the first quarter as junior running back Nate Mettler broke off a 66-yard touchdown run, but the Bearcats came right back with a touchdown of their own.
Anthony McFadden found Teagan McFadden for a 14-yard completion to begin the drive, then senior running back Quentin Tesi broke off runs of 20 and 17 yards to take the ball inside the Zane Trace red zone. Senior back Kyle Kottenbrook picked up 4 more yards before Tesi took it the final 8 yards to tie the contest at 7.
Paint Valley made it into Zane Trace territory in each of its second-quarter drives, but a delay of game penalty on a fourth-and-two play at the 31-yard-line forced a Bearcat punt, and the Pioneers were able to drive a scrambling Anthony McFadden out of bounds inside the ZT 30 on the final play of the first half.
“We knew it was going to be a tough game,” Zane Trace coach Gary Peters said. “Our defense settled down after they scored, and this helps going forward. Paint Valley is a good, young team. We’re not as young, but we’re a green team, and this was a good win tonight.”
Paint Valley hits the road next Friday as the Bearcats play at Southeastern.