Tyner 13 , Boyd-Buchanan 7
The star: Shannon Spralls ran 19 time for 87 yards and scored the winning TD with 1:29 to go. Up next: Tyner plays next week at second-ranked Marion County
On a warmer night in September, before fall had settled in, Boyd-Buchanan blew Tyner's Rams out of their own stadium, 48-16. Friday night, the Rams created a much different result.
With the stakes raised, a much healthier Tyner team was unrelenting in a 13-7 upset win in the second round of the Class 2A playoffs - ousting top-ranked Boyd-Buchanan (11-1) on the Buccaneers' turf.
It was an old-school defensive struggle, each team bending but not breaking and pounding the ball on the ground on offense. After several empty trips inside the Bucs' 30-yard line, the Rams (9-3) used that formula to break through with their season on the line.
"We did a tremendous job on offense and defense," Tyner coach Wayne Turner said. "We moved the ball well, and our defense was absolutely lights- out in the second half."
The stingy Tyner defense allowed only 6 yards of offense in the second half, and late in the fourth quarter a 9-yard sack left the Bucs punting out of their end zone. The Rams wound up with the ball at midfield.
Two negative plays led to third-and-long, but Emmanuel Moss passed to Juwan Samuels for a first down. Then senior running back Shannon Spralls took over. He marched the Rams down to the 1-yard line and then punched it in from there with just 1:29 left to play.
"(The touchdown) meant a lot," Spralls said. "We looked at the newspaper today and read it in front of the team. Everyone voted against us, and we came in the underdogs and shocked the world."
Spralls gained 87 yards on the ground on 19 carries, none sweeter than his last one. Tyner missed the extra point, which opened the door for Boyd-Buchanan, but the defense quickly closed it, forcing the Bucs to turn it over on downs.
"It's a sweet win - probably one of the best in my career," Turner said. "It's David and Goliath, baby, and we brought the slingshot."
Boyd-Buchanan got on the board first early in the second quarter behind senior Cooper Hodge, who ran it in from 3 yards out. Tyner responded with a 30-yard strike from Moss to Samuels, and the two teams held each other scoreless until Spralls' game-winner.
"It was two good football teams going at it. It was really hard for us to move the ball, and they made adjustments at the half," said Boyd-Buchanan coach Grant Reynolds. "These seniors meant a lot to the program."
Once the final buzzer sounded, the Bucs' seniors felt the sting of their careers ending. They thanked their team for a great season, and several stayed kneeling, sharing emotions with teammates after the huddle broke.
Contact Idris Garcia at sports@timesfreepress.com.