Piqua & Grove City totalled 89 points in a wild shootout Friday night. GC scored first, set up by an outstanding one-handed grab (pictured here, but covered up by the defender). Grove City was dominating early, but made the mistake of kicking to Saine, who took one back for a score, and another back to the 10 yard line (which led to a TD by Brandon).
Bryant Fox suspended the offensive shootout w/ a big interception for Piqua, which led to a Collier TD to go up 34-31 in the 4th. That led to a TD catch by Collier to put Piqua on top 34-31.
Again the Piqua defense stepped up, holding Grove City to a game-tying FG (34-34) on a drive that started on Piqua's own 37 (after a poor punt).
On the ensuing kickoff, Phil Collier tried too hard to break one after being bottled up. Joel Laborce made a tremendous play, ripping the ball from Collier's hands and ran it back for a touchdown.
Saine answered back with a 39 yard TD run where he broke 4 body tackles.
Piqua's defense stepped up on the ensuing drive, but killed themselves with penalties. Encroachment on the first set of downs, pass interference on 3rd and long (questionable call, but there was no need to play the ball as the WR was short of the sticks). Grove City milked the clock and ran it in with 38 seconds left.
Piqua moved the ball down the field to the red zone, yet mistakes cost them big yardage (2 drops on long passes, and holding cost them 15 yards on the kickoff return). Grove City's Nate Helton tipped a pass to himself to seal the victory (click here for animation).
Brandon Saine rushed for 127 yards (11.5 ypc), gained 330 all-purpose yards, and scored 4 tds (1 KR, 3 Rush). His tremendous speed is a given. However, his vision and strength were very impressive. Brandon was a tackle breaking machine, including 4 during his long, game-tying TD (41-41) late in the 4th.
* Animation #1 - Saine 2nd KR: After taking the last one for a score, Brandon took this one down to the 10. That was the last time they kicked the ball to him. His other return was more impressive (pictured above), as he ran right through a tackler before darting to the endzone.
* Animation #2 - Saine Rushing TD: Wrapped up inside, breaks free, bounces it outside, runs through a tackle and scores.
Phil Collier was a big factor in the game. He made some nice defensive breakups, caught a big TD on 4th and very long, caught another TD to take the lead late in the 4th qtr, had an electrifying 68-yard run (called back for clipping), and had the ball stripped on a KR and returned for a score.
Jafe Pitcock was always around the football, but he did not have enough help up front to slow down the GC rushing attack. He had one monster tackle where he caught the player in mid-air, and piledrived him to the ground like a WWF wrestler.
Other Notables:
- Kevin Mulvany - D1 talent, very strong leg that was very consistent. His only mistakes were the two times he kicked to Saine.
- Bryant Fox - (as noted above) he had a big interception for Piqua, which led to a Collier TD to go up 34-31 in the 4th.
- Tommy Heffelfinger - This guy was giving his all during practice, hitting hard during linebacker drills.
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