It’s been a rough couple of weeks for the Tecumseh gridiron squad and it got rougher last Friday in Tuttle with something that happened on the Savage sideline.
The young Savages continued to play hard but suffered from some self-destructive tendencies, especially on offense with turnovers and penalties. Tecumseh had two turnovers returned for touchdowns in the first half which led to the demise of the Savages.
Trailing 7-0 after Tuttle scored on a seven- yard run halfway through the opening quarter, the Savages were pinned in the shadow of their own goal posts. Tecumseh fumbles and it was picked up and returned four-yards to paydirt by Tuttle. The point after was no good but the Tigers led the Savages 13-0 just 20-seconds after their first touchdown.
The Savages then drove deep into Tuttle territory before turning the ball over on downs. The Tecumseh defense bowed up to force a Tiger punt to give the ball back to the Savages. Tecumseh gave the ball right back to the Tigers on an interception which led to a 13-yard TD pass and extra-point to give Tuttle a 20-0 lead with 7:42 left in the second quarter.
After a Tecumseh punt, the Savage defense forced Tuttle to settle for a field goal attempt. The game was stopped for a medical emergency on the Tecumseh sideline that sent a pall over the crowd, especially the Savage faithful. After a lengthy delay, the field goal was no good and the Savages took possession of the ball on their own 20-yard line.
The Savages tried to move the ball through the air when Tuttle intercepted another Savage pass which was returned 50-yards for a touchdown in the final couple of seconds left on the clock. The PAT was no good, but the Tigers took a 26-0 lead into the locker room.
The second half didn’t get any better for the Savages. Tecumseh took the second half kickoff and immediately gave the ball to the Tigers with a Savage interception. The Tigers made the Savages pay for the turnover on the next play with a sevenyard touchdown run. The PAT was good, and the Tigers improved their lead to 33-0 with just over a minute gone in the third quarter.
The Savages turned the ball over on downs on the ensuing possession and the Tigers again turned it into points. A three-yard TD run, and a missed extra-point gave Tuttle an overwhelming 40-0 lead.
As they have all season, the Savages showed no signs of quitting and were determined to get the zero off the scoreboard. Tecumseh was able to finally sustain a drive and it was capped off with an eight-yard touchdown run by Conner Barksdale. The extra-point failed, and the final score was 40-6 with Tuttle on top.
You have to give the Savages credit for persevering after the stress and apprehension caused by the gloominess just before halftime. The Savages trailed 26-0 at intermission and came back to battle to a 14-6 deficit in the second half.
The Todd Colburn Oklahoma Farm Bureau MVP of the Game was awarded to Garrett Chaffin, his second MVP this season. Chaffin was also the MVP of the Game against Perkins.
After the tough two game road trip, the Savages (4-4, 2-3) return home tomorrow (Friday) night to meet Bridge Creek on Senior Night. The Bobcats come to town with an overall record of 2-6 and are 0-5 in District 4A-2. Kickoff is set for 7:00pm.
