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Score and Photos of Friday night high school football - Oct. 16
Tyner's pass defense was among the things Rams coach Wayne Turner found plenty of fault with Friday night. But he couldn't complain about the pass coverage or the pass rush on the fourth-down play the Rams stopped that enabled them to preserve a 27-21 overtime victory over visiting Meigs County in a Region 3-2A high school football game.
Among the things that infuriated Turner were his team's five turnovers, including an interception by the Tigers' Kiefer Swanson on the goal line with less than five minutes to go in the third quarter as Tyner tried to extend a 21-14 lead. The Rams also committed 11 penalties totaling 105 yards.
"Penalties hurt," Turner said, "but our inability to execute in crucial situations on both sides of the ball is what really hurt."
Tyner (5-3, 3-2) scored on its second play in overtime. But after an illegal-procedure penalty, the Rams missed their extra-point kick to the right.
The Rams held Meigs (3-5, 1-4) to 1 yard in its first three plays in OT, leaving the Tigers with fourth down from the 9. Quarterback Clint Oliver not only overthrew his intended target, but he took a shot from an onrushing Ram and ended up being taken to a local hospital after the game as a precaution.
"We were trying to swing a back over the middle," Meigs County coach Jason Fitzgerald said. "We were trying to hit an angle route. They had us covered. They had a good pass rush, too."
Turner was pleased to see the coverage on the final play, especially compared to some situations throughout the game. One was the 56-yard touchdown to an open Cameron Harris down the middle of the field on a halfback pass from Logan Fowler that allowed Meigs to tie at 21 late in the third quarter.
"We had enough mistakes to go around," Turner said. "But the important thing is getting the region win. It was a big game for both of us. We felt like the loser was going to be behind the 8-ball. Winning this one gives us a chance to probably finish third in the region."
The Rams got two rushing touchdowns from Shannon Spralls, including the one in OT. Chaysen Patrick added a short scoring run, as did one of the Tyner quarterbacks, Emmanuel Moss.
Fowler's 3-yard run at 9:03 of the second quarter gave the Tigers the first lead, and Oliver's 24-yard touchdown pass to Zy Moore and his ensuing conversion pass to Tristan Fischer put Meigs ahead 14-7 with 5:13 to go in the first half. Fischer also had a 45-yard run on a reverse late in regulation that gave the Tigers a shot to throw for the end zone and try to win in regulation.
"We knew coming down here in order to beat them we were going to have to do some things they haven't seen on film," Fitzgerald said. "The kids executed to perfection. Our plan was to come down here, play hard and see what happens. They laid it on the line."
Contact Kelley Smiddie at sports@timesfreepress.com. Follow him at twitter.com/KelleySmiddie.