Breathe in, breathe out.
That’s what many Buc fans were saying to themselves after Friday night’s wild 28-20 playoff win over Stratford.
After coasting to a seemingly easy 20-0 first half lead, it all fell apart in the third quarter.
Two onside kick recoveries, a fumble and an interception spelled three straight touchdowns for the Bulldogs.
All of the sudden with less than ten minutes left in the game, it was all tied up 20-20.
Never fear.
For some reason, the Bulldogs didn’t onside kick after their tying touchdown early in the fourth quarter.
Jake Randall fielded the line-drive kick in the air and proceeded 34 yards to set Tonkawa up at the Bulldog 32.
Scoring wasn’t easy. It took 11 plays and some hard running from senior tailback Tristan Burdick. He finished the evening with 221 yards rushing on 33 carries.
After getting to a first and goal at the two, on fourth down, Burdick finally got across the goal-line. Then Ryan Morgan hit tight end Noah Campbell for the two point conversion, giving the Bucs a 28- 20 advantage.
Stratford took over on their own 45 after the ensuing kickoff. On first down, Miccael Brown tackled their runner behind the line for a one yard loss. That was followed by a Jake Morgan 10 yard sack of the Bulldog quarterback. Ryan Morgan intercepted on third down, but it was nullified by the third 15 yard penalty of the night against the Bucs. But Stratford still needed nine yards on fourth down for a first down. The pass attempt was tipped away by Randall, one of three he had on the night.
With 2:01 left in the game, the Bucs took over. Burdick’s 15 yard third down run for a first down along with a 15 yard penalty tacked on top of it for unnecessary roughness set Tonkawa up at the Bulldog 13. From there, the Bucs went into victory formation for three straight downs and ran out the clock. The Bucs’ first two touchdowns came fairly easily. Jaidyn Guzman scored on a 16 yard run, the fourth play of a 68 yard drive that was set up by a 48 yard pass from Ryan Morgan to Noah Campbell.
The Bucs went up 14-0 less than two minutes later with a 49 yard run by Burdick, that covered 61 yards in 3 plays, Burdick. He also ran across the two point conversion.
That’s when the Bulldogs started to show some life.
With a ...
