Second Half Rally Lifts
’Roos
Kent Bell, Ross Hasten, and Ryan Cowley
each rushed for over 100 yards as the ’Roos piled up
422 yards on the ground in the game, with Hasten and Cowley scoring twice each.
As the game opened it looked like it
would become a shootout early, with Colorado College marching down the field
for a 15 yard run by Justin Alexander just over three minutes into the game and
Austin College responding with a three minute drive of their own, culminating
in a Ryan Cowley four yard run to make it 7-7 with 8:18 remaining in the
opening quarter.
On the next drive for the Tigers the
offense again looked to be moving with ease after Jon McDonald rushed twice for
59 yards, but the Austin College defense held Colorado College to seven yards
on the next three plays and forced a 26-yard field goal to give the Tigers a
10-7 lead with 3:40 left in the first.
Midway through the second quarter the ’Roo offense started clicking, going 73 yards in 13 plays
and into the red zone, but Brendan Ross picked off Kent Bell’s pass attempt at
the seven yard line and raced 93 yards the other way to give the Tigers a 17-7
lead.
The momentum shifted even further in the
Tigers direction just 45 seconds later when Colorado College recovered a
botched handoff by the ’Roos at the Austin College 26
yard line, and four plays later Max Green took an end around four yards into
the endzone. Matt Finke blocked the point after
attempt to make it 23-7 heading into halftime.
Austin College took the kickoff to start
the second half and wasted little time cutting into the Colorado College lead,
as Cowley, Bell, Hasten, and Brett Anderson combined to carry 10 times for 74
yards, with Hasten going untouched into the endzone
from two yards out to make it 23-14 just over five minutes into the third.
After forcing a punt on the next
The ’Roos
scored for the third time in as many second half possessions early in the
fourth quarter with Cowley rushing four yards for the score to give Austin
College its first lead of the game at 28-23. Cowley had 43 yards on five
carries in the scoring drive.
Momentum proved to be completely in
Austin College’s favor on the next kickoff, when Matt McDermott fumbled at the
end of a 12 yard return and Joel Purdy recovered for the ’Roos
at the Colorado College 33 yard line, and Zaq Mamot scampered 21 yards down the sideline to make it a
35-23 game in favor of the ’Roos and capping off a
28-0 run to open the second half.
Colorado College threatened late when
McDonald found Ross Alisiani on a 43 yard strike down
to the Austin College six, but on the very next play Purdy picked off a pass in
the endzone to give the ball back to the ’Roos.
The Tiger defense stepped up on the
ensuing possession and got the ball back for their offense, and McDonald
capitalized with a one yard touchdown to make it 35-30 with just over four
minutes left in the game.
Colorado College got the ball back with
3:01 on the clock and picked up a fourth down conversion to keep their final
drive alive, but Nick Youngblood made a huge hit to break up a pass on third
and eight and McDonald’s screen pass to Nolan Swett
fell incomplete to turn it over on downs and allow the ’Roos
to run out the clock and seal the victory.
Martell recorded a team high 10 tackles
for
McDonald led the Tigers both on the
ground and in the air, rushing 16 times for 93 yards and a touchdown and
completing 15-of-26 passes for 179 yards with a pick. Alexander finished
the game with 16 rushes for 68 yards and a touchdown along with five catches
for 40 yards.
Ross recorded a game-best 14 tackles,
including nine solo stops to go along with his 93-yard interception
return. Buddy Ferreira made 11 tackles for the Tigers.
Jeff
Kelly
Sports
Information Coordinator
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