The Rising Sun football team has little margin for error and coach Rich Opp said the Tigers made a few too many miscues to overcome Joppatowne Friday night. After Rising Sun had narrowed the gap to 12-7 with four minutes left, the Mariners iced the game with a TD drive of their own and topped the Tigers 19-7 in a game played at Aberdeen High. "Too many mistakes. Too many penalties," Opp lamented. "I told them the keys to the week were no penalties. We didn't give up. I think it was a well-played game. It was a clean football game and I'm proud of our kids for that. They didn't give up and they were hard-hitting and clean."
After a scoreless opening 12 minutes, Joppatowne hit paydirt on a 33-yard pass on the first play of the second quarter. The Tigers' Dakota Hodgson blocked the extra point. Rising Sun had a golden opportunity to tie the game or take the lead after James Moyer recovered a fumble on the Joppatowne 15 yard line. On 3rd and 6 from the 11, Jesse Herrera gained just enough for a first down with a spectacular individual effort. He was stripped of the ball by a Mariners' defender while trying to go round the right end but he was able to scoop up the ball and barrel forward to the four-yard line. Disaster struck on the next play. Quarterback Jack Stewart took a short drop and peered into the end zone but he was hit before he could throw the ball and fumbled. A Joppatowne player picked up the ball and rumbled to midfield before Alex Billings made a touchdown-saving tackle. Bryce Brown picked off a pass to give the Tigers the ball back. Rising Sun threatened again thanks in large part to a 43-yard run by Logan Luoto but could not convert a 4th and 8 from the Mariners' 29. Ahead 6-0, Joppatowne got the ball to start the second half but Brown made his second interception of the game. But once again the Tigers couldn't handle prosperity and fumbled on the next play. The turning point of the game early in the fourth quarter. With Noah Juergens in at quarterback, Rising Sun faced a 4th down and 13 from the Joppatowne 44. Juergens lofted a pass down the right sideline and Herrera hauled it in for an apparent first down inside the 20. But Herrera was whistled for offensive pass interference nullifying the first down. Situated across the field from the play Opp did not get a good view. "(That play) hurt, obviously," Opp said. "I'd have to see it again. Like I say to the kids, (the officials) are the law of the land and that's how they saw it and that's the bottom line." Joppatowne took advantage and scored to take a 12-0 lead with 8:57 left in the fourth quarter. Rising Sun responded. A five-yard run TD run by Luoto and Chris Arrante's extra point made it 12-7 with 3:58 to go. The Tigers didn't touch the ball again until it was too late. The Mariners recovered a squib kick at midfield and marched down the field and upped their lead to 19-7 with 10 seconds remaining. Luoto led the Tigers with 110 yards on 15 carries. Billings rushed six times for 26 yards. Juergens completed 5 of 9 passes for 68 yards. Wyatt Griffith paced the defense with 14 tackles and Kyle Miller was in on 10 stops. Rising Sun rued its missed opportunities. The Tigers have been able to move the ball in stretches, but are struggling in opponents' territory. "I said to them at the end of the Fallston game (the previous week), we didn't finish off the drives," Opp said. "We're not finishing off drives. We've got to finish off drives. And we need to do that against Bo Manor (this Friday)." Comments are closed.
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