Cave Spring spotted Tunstall 19 points in the first quarter, then came one play short of a dramatic comeback, as the Knights fell 19-15 in the Region IV Division 3 football final Friday night in rural Dry Fork.
A fairly quiet late afternoon quickly turned into an evening more suitable for a kite-flying jamboree as a moving cold front played havoc on early strategy.
Cave Spring found itself driving into the wind in the opening quarter, and that disadvantage, along with a Tunstall team that came out with all the emotion, sent the Knights into a hole they could never dig out of.
Tunstall held Cave Spring to three-and-out on their first possession, and when Knight punter Jordan Bryant was forced to kick into a 25 mile-per-hour headwind, the Trojans’ first series came with a short field to navigate.
Tunstall responded with quarterback Chris Buckner hitting Evan Huffman for a 25-yard touchdown pass that gave the Trojans the early 6-0 lead after the wind-blown point-after sailed wide-right.
Later in the opening frame Cave Spring quarterback Connor Baker had a pass caught-up in the swirling wind and Tunstall linebacker Brad Hylton brought it down in full stride, racing 23-yards to the house for an easy pick-6. A fumbled 2-point conversion attempt left Tunstall up 12-0 with just over four minutes left.
Late in the first, Tunstall made it 19-0 when Peyton Farrior streaked 50-yards down the sideline for the third Trojan score. Few among the partisan Tunstall crowd would have predicted it would be the Trojans last points of the night.
Cave Spring had the wind at their back in the second quarter, but the only score the Knights could muster was a 24-yard Daniel Seymour field goal after a Cave Spring drive fizzled at the Tunstall 7-yard line. The teams went to the locker room with Tunstall holding the 19-3 lead.
“We knew we still had plenty of time to come back,” Baker noted afterward.
The effect of the wind could best be shown in the yeoman punting efforts by Knights senior Jordan Bryant. Kicking straight into the wind in the first quarter, he was able to advance the ball only 25-30 yards. On his first effort of the second quarter, with the wind at his back, Bryant sailed one for 73 yards.
Tunstall had the wind to start the third quarter, and was looking for the knockout punch. But, it was Cave Spring that came out with physical play and seized the momentum.
On Tunstall’s second play from scrimmage, an ill-advised pass from Buckner was picked off by Cave Spring junior linebacker Jacob Cash and returned to the Trojan seven-yard line. Two plays later, Baker found Austin Amos at the goal line for a five-yard strike that left the Knights down 19-9 after a failed 2-point conversion.
After Tunstall was stopped on their next possession, Cave Spring marched 72 yards, the big play coming on a Jon Evans 25-yard touchdown catch from Baker that closed the gap to 19-15 with 5:39 left in the third quarter. The point-after try was blocked after a high snap and delayed placement.
The Knights missed a golden opportunity when Tunstall fumbled the ensuing kickoff, giving the ball back to Cave Spring at the Trojan 30-yard line. But, the Knights turned the ball over on downs when a fourth down pass attempt came up short.
Cave Spring had the wind at their back in the final quarter but its first drive was waylaid after a fumble, leading to the potential game-winner in the final minutes.
The Knights drove deep into Trojan territory before facing fourth-and-goal with under a minute left. Baker scrambled to his right and appeared to have Bryant open in the right side of the end zone before the perfect pass was tipped by a diving Evan Huffman, securring the win for Tunstall.
“I thought we had it on the pass,” Baker said afterward. “They just made the big play.”
“Their speed got us in the first quarter, and we got in the early hole,” Cave Spring head coach Tim Fulton said. “We fought hard to come back. I’m proud of every one of our players. But, it hurts at this point.”
“They came out with all the emotion in the first quarter,” Bryant added. “We didn’t. We got more physical in the second half and came close.”
BILL TURNER game story/photos