By Robert Tomlinson
News Director
THREE RIVERS — The Swine Bone rivalry has been hotly contested the last couple of years, with the rivalry trophy trading hands the last three seasons, and Three Rivers owning it following a 14-11 win last year.
This year, the Bone will be changing hands again, and it will be painted a bright red color.
Vicksburg used some quick offense in the first half and some timely defense in the second half to squeak out a 28-24 win over Three Rivers on Friday at Armstrong Field.
“It took everything, it took all four quarters,” Vicksburg head coach Tom Marchese said. “They had us on our heels a little bit. We faced adversity for really the first time this year, except for Week 2, but it was good for our kids to come together and make some stops when they had to and some plays on offense that they had to.”
Those key plays for Vicksburg came quick, as the Bulldogs scored on the first play of the game from scrimmage. Vicksburg quarterback Easton Moughton found wideout Maguire Bowles across the middle, and he would run past the Wildcats defense to go 67 yards for the first score of the game just 22 seconds in, putting the Bulldogs up 7-0 just like that.
Three Rivers would answer on its first possession of the quarter. On a first down from their own 43, Wildcats quarterback Mason Awe would fake a handoff and sprint down the middle of the field into open space, galloping all the way down to the Vicksburg 12-yard line. Awe would punch it in four plays later with a quarterback sneak from the 1-yard line to make it 7-6 Vicksburg after the extra point was blocked.
Vicksburg got the ball into Wildcat territory quickly on their next possession after a 16-yard run by running back Aroldo Mendoza brought it to the Wildcats’ 46. On the next play, though, Moughton would throw an ill-advised pass to the right side that was intercepted by linebacker Hunter Koenig, who took the pick all the way down to Vicksburg’s 11-yard line. The ‘Cats would cash in just three plays later as Awe found wideout Brayden Carpenter for an 11-yard touchdown pass to make it 14-7 after Awe rushed it in for a two-point conversion.
After Vicksburg got a three-and-out, Three Rivers would get another score, set up by a big 35-yard rush by Carpenter, when Awe found tight end Zander Barth for a four-yard touchdown catch to put the ‘Cats up 21-7. Another quick strike just three plays into Vicksburg’s next drive, with Moughton finding Bowles again for a 55-yard touchdown pass, would make it a 21-14 game in favor of Three Rivers heading into the second quarter.
Three Rivers would punt on its next possession, and the Bulldogs would capitalize. A facemask call on Three Rivers would bring the ball to the Wildcats’ 17-yard line early in the drive, and eventually got down to the 1-yard line after Moughton converted on fourth-and-2. Mendoza would punch it in on the next play with a touchdown rush from one yard out to make it a tie game, 21-21.
With eight and a half minutes to go in the second, Three Rivers tried to get a drive going, and nearly got it into the red zone of the Bulldogs. However, on a first down from Vicksburg’s 21-yard line, LJ Hensley fumbled the ball, which was recovered by Vicksburg to give them the ball back at their own 18-yard line.
Vicksburg would knock on the doorstep and get it all the way to the Three Rivers 9-yard line, but after a loss of three and an incompletion on the first two downs, the Bulldogs turned the ball over again, with Jaxon Smith recovering the ball and taking it down to his own 39-yard line.
Three Rivers would give the ball right back, though, as three plays later, Awe tried to scramble to the right side, and lost the football while going down. Vicksburg recovered it and made it all the way down to Three Rivers’ 25-yard line on their next drive, only for Moughton to throw his third pick of the day and the second to Koenig to end the half with the score tied at 21-21.
The Wildcats would get the ball and take up nearly seven minutes on its first drive of the third quarter. It included two fourth-down conversions, an 11-yard pass from Awe to Drake Dibble and a 15-yard run by Carpenter, but the drive would ultimately stall in the red zone, with Jacin Selent kicking a 25-yard field goal to make it 24-21. Vicksburg would go three-and-out on its next possession, and Three Rivers would get stuffed on a fourth-and-two opportunity just past midfield to start the fourth quarter.
Vicksburg would score fairly quickly to open their first full drive of the fourth quarter. Mendoza started it with a 39-yard run to get it to the red zone, followed by another 15-yard carry for the senior running back to get it within the 5-yard line. Three plays later, Moughton would call his own number and run it in from four yards out to go up 28-24 with 10:13 to go in the game.
After Three Rivers punted a few minutes later near midfield, the Wildcats would have had a chance to get the ball back from the Bulldogs with about five minutes to go after forcing what would’ve been a three-and-out deep in Vicksburg territory. However, a roughing-the-punter penalty would keep the drive alive for Vicksburg, taking off a few more minutes of time before the Bulldogs eventually punted it away to the Wildcats’ 23-yard line with just 1:53 to go.
Awe would find Dibble for four yards on first down, but a couple of deep and short incompletions would set up a fourth-and-6. Awe had a receiver wide open on the left side on fourth down, but the throw was just out of the reach of wide receiver Carter Langston, giving Vicksburg the ball back on downs, who would subsequently kneel to end the game with a 28-24 victory.
Marchese said while his team has some things to clean up, he was happy with the win.
“We got to clean some things up, and that’s the best thing about high school football: you get another one next week, you have a different opponent, and you’ve gotta play what you got,” Marchese said. “We’ll watch the film and get better, and hopefully we do get better.”
Moughton was 8-for-16 passing on the day for the victorious Bulldogs for 159 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. Mendoza was the leading rusher, toting the ball 17 times for 103 yards and a touchdown, while Moughton had 10 attempts for 40 yards and a touchdown. Bowles hauled in three passes for 124 yards and two touchdowns, while Travis Hostetler corralled two passes for 19 yards, Graham Kubiak had two catches for 11 yards and Michael Johnson had one catch for five yards.
As for the Wildcats, Awe was 10-for-23 passing the ball for 67 yards, and also had 74 yards rushing on 11 attempts. Ethan Moreland had a good game on the ground, with 31 attempts for 151 yards. Dibble had six catches for 46 yards on the evening, while defensively, Koenig had the two interceptions.
Three Rivers Head Coach Jeff Awe said he was pleased by how the run game did, but said his team needs to find a way to be “explosive” down the field.
“We had some leaks on our line that kept us from sustaining drives, and we have to get better,” Jeff Awe said. “I was happy with our running game, but we need to figure out a way to be a little more explosive.”
However, Awe said the penalty toward the end of the game was one of the turning points in the loss.
“The big play was the roughing penalty. We’re looking to get the ball back with about five minutes left, and instead we get it back with two minutes and no timeouts, and you have to go the whole field,” Jeff Awe said. “That’s just how it goes. Hopefully we can learn from it; we’ve got a lot of football to play.”
With the win, Vicksburg moves to 4-1 on the year, while Three Rivers takes its first loss of the season and goes to 4-1. The Wildcats play at Niles Friday at 7 p.m., while Vicksburg plays at Otsego Friday at 7 p.m.
Marchese, meanwhile, is excited to have the Swine Bone back in Vicksburg.
“It feels great,” Marchese said. “It’s back where it belongs.”
Robert Tomlinson can be reached at 279-7488 or robert@wilcoxnewspapers.com.
