The Sayre Eagle football team entertained the Crescent Tigers on Eagle Field where they slipped by the Tigers by the score of 22 to 20 last Friday evening. The game was truly a tale of two halves as the Eagles dominated the entire first half by scoring 3 times on 37 plays while allowing the Tigers only 20 plays in four possessions.
After holding a 22 to 0 halftime team, the second half became a nightmare for the Eagles when Crescent shut them out and turned the tables by scoring 3 touchdowns with 2 of those in the last 8 minutes of the fourth quarter. The game would have went into overtime except for a saving tackle made by Quaid Whitney on the 2-point conversion attempt. With 5 minutes still left to play in the fourth quarter the Eagles converted for 3 first downs in their final drive after the ensuing kickoff to run out the clock and take the victory.
Sayre received the opening kickoff with Quaid Whitney returning it 39 yards to the Tiger 48.
The Eagles made a quick trip to the Crescent end zone to put up the first points of the game on a 17-yard crushing run by Dustin McSorley. The PAT was successful on a run by Jaden Mosser to give an early score of 8 to 0 with 9:12 left in the first quarter. The Tigers successfully recovered the ensuing kickoff at their own 33. Three plays netting 8 yards before a fourth down punt was made by Tucker Stover.
The punt was for 33 yards to the Sayre 31 where Tate Bawden caught and returned the ball 8 yards to the Eagle 39. Sayre commenced to execute a slow clock eating drive of 15 plays to the Crescent end zone where they put up their second TD of the game on the first play of the second quarter. McSorley tallied the 6 points on a one-yard plunge.
McSorley also ran across the 2-point conversion to give the Eagles a 16 to 0 lead with 11:58 left to play in the first half. Crescent just could not get their engine going after fielding the ensuing kickoff at their own 36.
On the first play from there a pass was intercepted by Jagger Wootton and returned 18 yards to the Tiger 36-yard line. From there a 31-yard touchdown run by Jaden Mosser on the third play from scrimmage after the interception played out to be one of two critical drives in the game.
The PAT failed leaving the score 22 to 0 with 9:54 left in the second quarter. Crescent returned the ensuing kickoff 7 yards to the Tiger 41. Finally getting their engine revved up the Tigers went on a ten-play drive that motored their offense to the Eagle 5-yard line.
But a fourth and 5 situated was a pass that was critically deflected by Tristan Easter to save a TD and end the drive. From their own 5-yard line the Eagles struggled to their own 27 where a fourth down and 10 punting situation was averted when Crescent was assessed a 15-yard roughing the punter penalty that gave the Eagles a first down at the 42.
The drive ended 3 plays later however when a fake punt run by Mosser was stopped short of the first down at the Eagle 47. Crescent ran 5 plays before the first half ended. The second half turned out to belong to the Tigers.
Crescent received the third quarter kickoff and labored from their own 44 to the Eagle 40 in 10 plays but were forced to punt on a fourth and 33(yes 33) situation.
The punt rolled to a stop at the Eagle 5-yard line. Sayre gained only 6 yards in 3 plays and on a 4th and 4 situation faked a punt but the play fell 1 yard short of a first down at the Sayre 14-yard line. Crescent took immediate action from the 14 and scored their first TD in 2 plays. Luke Dalke scored from one yard away.
The PAT pass attempt failed and the Tigers had put points on the scoreboard with 4:55 left in the third quarter. Score now was 22 to 6. The following possession after the ensuing kickoff was critical for Sayre and they helped themselves by eating up the final time in the quarter when they took the ball from their own ten-yard line to the Tiger 10-yard line in eleven plays. The big play of the run was a 47yard pass play from QB Wootton to Tate Bawden.
Later the ball exchanged hands after a fourth down play failed to gain a first down. Crescent had held giving them a chance to close the gap with 10:15 left in the fourth quarter.
They realized the chance by quickly taking the ball 90 yards in only 4 plays. The TD play was a 71yard pass play from QB Stover to Smith Gordon. The PAT was good and suddenly the Tigers were within reach of the Eagle lead.
The score was 22 to 14 with 8:20 left in the game. Following the ensuing kickoff Sayre set their offense up at their own 24. Three plays netted only 7 yards leaving the Eagles with a fourth and 3 situation.
A fake punt on fourth down came up short to give Crescent the ball at the Sayre 31. The Tigers were now running on all cylinders and took the ball into the Eagle end zone in only 2 plays, the score being a 19-yard run by QB Stover.
Here the all-important 2-point conversion would put the Tigers into a tie and send the game into overtime. But the biggest play of the night was a scramble by Tiger QB Stover who was tracked down by Quaid Whitney and dropped short of the conversion leaving the Eagles still in the lead at 22 to 20.
There was still 5:31 left on the clock and the Eagles needed to maintain a drive after the ensuing kickoff. The Eagles connected for 3 first downs in that time span to run out the clock and gain the win.
Quaid Whitney as it turned out was a big reason for the win when 2 plays he made in the game both stood big in the Sayre win First he returned the opening kickoff 39 yards to give the Eagles great field position for their opening TD drive and second he secured the Eagle win by making the biggest tackle of the game on Crescents two point conversion attempt that left the Tigers two points short of a tie.
There were 4 other key plays that greatly aided in the Sayre win. One was the deflected fourth down pass midway in the second quarter at the Eagle 5-yard line that thwarted a Tiger TD.
A second play that came up big was the 31-yard TD run by Jaden Mosser early in the second quarter to put the Eagles up 22 to 0. The third was the 47-yard pass play from Wootton to Bawden that extended the 80-yard Sayre drive late in the third quarter from the Sayre 10 to the Tiger 10 and took off 5 minutes in the third quarter and 3 minutes in the fourth quarter off the clock.
A fourth game deciding event was the Wootton interception early in the second quarter just after the Eagles had scored their second TD which led to a subsequent third TD before halftime.
A fifth critical event that preserved the victory was the late 44yard drive that ended the game to not allow the hot Tiger second half offense to have another serious shot at the Eagle end zone. Sayre is now 1 win 1 loss in Class A District 1 and 3 wins 2 loses overall.
The Eagles will travel to Merritt for their next District contest. Sayre defeated Merritt last year 26 to 6. McSorley and Mosser both had 100 plus rushing yards while Brayden Mosburg led in tackles with 7 and Wootton had 6.
EAGLES STATS TIGERS 18 First Downs 13 66/297 Rushing Yards 22/131 3/5/53 Passing Yards 7/15/124 350 Total Yards 255 0 Turnovers 1 14/98 Penalties 10/70 ----- Punts 2/68/34
