Menu
Late Warrensburg surge sinks Tigers, 28-27
The tide turned against the Nevada Tigers late in the third quarter Friday night as Warrensburg erased a 13 point deficit to walk off with a 28-27 Senior Night victory.
Nevada led 21-6 at halftime, and 27-14 with 3:38 remaining in third quarter, but was unable to contain sophomore tailback Miles Moore on the jet sweep, with Warrensburg closeing out the West Central Conference matchup with 14 unanswered points.
“I thought we had some moments where we made plays, and some moments where we didn’t make plays,” said Nevada head coach Wes Beachler. “And we’ve got to get more consistent overall with doing things right for 48 minutes.”
Added Beachler: We have tremendous quarters, we have tremendous halves, but I don’t know, other than (Kansas City) Center, that we’ve put together a complete game.”
With 7:20 remaining in regulation Moore scored on a jet sweep-right, darting into the end zone from 13 yards out to slice Nevada’s lead to 27-26. Lacking a reliable place-kicker Warrensburg elected to go for two. Moore took another jet sweep right to paydirt, handing the Warrensburg a 28-27 advantage.
Missed opportunities hurt Nevada. Late in the fourth, on a second and 10 from the Warrensburg 30-yard-line, quarterback Braeden Hinton was unable to connect with Coletan Shepard, who was open on a wheel route near the end zone. The Tigers ultimately turned the ball over on downs.
“That’s a play that we should have made on both ends,” said Beachler. “The blocking was there, the routes were there. We got the guy open that we wanted, and just missed it.”
Warrensburg quarterback Jaason Levine inexplicably fell to the ground attempting to run the clock out, handing Nevada possession back with one second left in regulation.
Working from the Warrensburg 38-yard-line, Hinton’s hail Mary, intended for 6-foot-5 senior wide receiver Hunter Mason, was intercepted the end zone, sealing Nevada’s fate.
“It was a lack of execution at times when we needed it,” said Beachler during his postgame radio interview.
“We had opportunities and didn’t get it done, and were not very well coached tonight. When you get opportunities to make plays you gotta make plays. And when you don’t do that bad things can happen. We let them stick around. It shouldn’t have even come down to a one point game, it should have been a two or three touchdown win. We couldn’t finish them off when we needed to.”
Senior tailback Braxton Shadden chewed up 55 yards on the Tigers opening drive, capping it off with a two-yard touchdown run. Nevada's two-point attempt was unsuccessful, as the Tigers led early 6-0.
After converting a key fourth down on its opening possession, Moore took broke off a 40-yard touchdown run.
The contest remained tied 6-6 after a misfire on the extra point. Near the midpoint of the second quarter Hinton connected with Shadden on a 45-yard touchdown strike. With senior fullback Zach Gardner gashing the Warrensburg defense on the two-point attempt Nevada led 14-6.
The Tigers increased their advantage on the last play of the half as Shepherd hauled in a Hinton hail Mary pass at the 4-yard line, made a defender miss and walked into the zone. Matt Thorp’s extra point handed Nevada a 21-6 halftime cushion.
Early in the third Warrensburg corner back Connor Burson picked off Hinton and went 43 yards to the end zone, with the successful two point attempt trimming Nevada's lead to 21-14.
The Tigers final score of the game was set-up by a Trevor Olsen fumble recovery deep in Warrensburg territory. On fourth and goal from the 1, Gardner took a handoff from Hinton and walked into the end zone untouched. A fake point after attempt was unsuccessful, and Nevada led 27-14 with 3:39 remaining in the third.
“I thought when we got up 27-14, we just need to make plays,” said Beachler. “We need to get a stop on defense, and we needed to come back and stick it in the end zone one more time.”
On the ensuing possession Warrensburg did major damage on the ground, with Moore punctuating the drive on a jet sweep from eight yards out. Warrensburg elected to go for two, and came up short, and they trailed 27-20 entering the fourth quarter.
“It doesn’t do any good to fight and whine about being held on the edge, you’ve got to learn to get off blocks and make plays,” said Beachler. "Everybody’s got a place to fit on the jet sweep, it’s not that complicated.”
Shadden, who left the game injured late in the third, finished with 143 yards on 21 carries and a pair of touchdowns.
Beachler said conditioning was an issue for his squad.
“It will be a fun week of conditioning,” noted Beachler. “We still have guys that, in my opinion, don’t necessarily play hard every down, and you’ve got to learn to do that in this game. That’s what successful teams do, they play hard every down.”
__Nevada (3-5 overall, 2-4 WCC) hosts the Clinton Cardinals in its regular-season finale, Friday night at 7 p.m.