TIPTON — Early mistakes kept Tipton football in a deadlock with Pierce City at halftime.
A reminder to play loose and without fear from head coach William Duke gave the Cardinals the boost they needed, sparking a 14-point second-half resurgence that led to a 28-14 win on Friday, Sept. 4, at Tipton High School.
“My message to them was, ‘Stop being afraid of failure and have fun,’” Duke said. “Now, there was some spirited conversation because we weren’t doing things very well in the first half … So, we had to talk about that, but I couldn’t be more proud of the way they responded.”
The game was tied 14-14 at halftime. Tipton (2-0) opened the third quarter by forcing Pierce City (1-1) into a three-and-out.
The Cardinals then marched 54 yards in five plays, capping the drive with a 14-yard touchdown run by sophomore Micah Street.
“The line did amazing on the blocking,” Micah Street said of his go-ahead score. “You know, [I was] just being patient, finding the hole and exploding through it. The line did a great job creating that hole for me to run through.”
After a missed extra point, Tipton led 20-14 with 8:25 left in the third quarter.
Pierce City crossed into Tipton territory on its next drive, but stalled at the 40-yard line and was forced to punt.
The Cardinals capitalized with an eight-play, 83-yard drive that senior Levi Street finished off with a 2-yard touchdown run. Senior quarterback Andrew Bestgen then caught a pass from senior Hunter Hagerman on a Philly Special-esque 2-point conversion, extending Tipton’s lead to 28-14 with 11:54 remaining.
Tipton did not attempt a pass on either of its scoring drives in the second half, throwing the ball just twice after halftime — both coming in the latter part of the fourth quarter.
“What we talked about at halftime was just like, ‘Guys, we can run the ball when we want to, we’re not blocking it,’” Duke said. “If you’re not going to block the guy, yeah, we’re not going to be able to run it. But, guess what? That first drive [out of halftime], we hit our blocking assignments and look what happened — we went right down the field.”
The Eagles’ next two possessions both ended with interceptions. Junior Landon Bacht nabbed the first, catching a tipped ball along the sideline with 9:25 left.
Levi Street then sealed the victory, leaping up to snag the pick with 1:21 remaining.
“Levi’s pick at the end, we got into a pass protection kind of defense, and Levi drops back and grabs it,” Duke said. “That kid works harder than anybody. I’m super happy for him.”
Bestgen said the win provided an early gauge of where the defending Class 1 state champions stand. Tipton ranks No. 1 in Class 1 according to the Missouri Media’s state rankings, while Pierce City ranks No. 6.
“This was our biggest test in a long time,” Bestgen said. “Pierce City is a team I’m sure we’ll see down the line. Our districts are right next to each other, so if they win theirs and we win ours, we’d play them again and that would be some rematch. They're a good football team.”
Bestgen accounted for both of Tipton’s scores in the first half. He connected with Micah Street for a 29-yard touchdown on the Cardinals’ opening drive.
After Pierce City capitalized on a turnover on downs by Tipton, Bestgen broke free for a 94-yard touchdown run to give the Cardinals a 14-7 lead.
“It was a play we kind of worked on all week,” Bestgen said. “I was looking to bounce it outside more, but the cutback lane opened up wide. One of their safeties kind of over pursued, so I hit that lane and our O-line kind of opened the Red Sea for me. It was just up to me not to get hunted down.”
The Eagles answered with an 80-yard touchdown by junior Landon Iman, who caught a short pass from junior Dyllan Kleiboeker and raced to the end zone to tie the game before halftime.
Tipton fumbled and ran out the second quarter on its last two possessions of the first half, prompting Duke’s halftime reality check.
“I think they realized, ‘We’re making mistakes that they’re capitalizing on,’” Duke said. “They’re not doing anything we haven’t seen. We are making our own mistakes, whether it’s tackling or blocking or whatever. We were making those mistakes. Had we not made those mistakes, we wouldn’t be in this position.”
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Tipton senior Reid Broyles carries the ball during a game against Pierce City on Friday, Sept. 4, at Tipton High School.
Tipton senior Chance Petree lines up during a game against Pierce City on Friday, Sept. 4, at Tipton High School.
Tipton senior Ty Bixler carries the ball during a game against Pierce City on Friday, Sept. 4, at Tipton High School.
The Tipton defense, led by freshman Easton Carvajal (67), swarms to makes a tackle during a game against Pierce City on Friday, Sept. 4, at Tipton High School.
Tipton hosts East Newton on Friday, Sept. 11.
AREA SCOREBOARD
Windsor 14, Sherwood 0
Carrollton 48, Cole Camp 8
Sweet Springs 56, Lincoln 8-man 26
St. Paul Lutheran Concordia 56, Northwest 8-man 40
CMAC SCOREBOARD
Rock Bridge 31, Smith-Cotton 21
Helias Catholic 31, Hickman 13
Camdenton 61, Jefferson City 34
Capital City 38, Battle 0
Sports editor Jack Denebeim can be reached at 660-530-0142.
