2012 IHSAA Football, Week 9
Tonight my dad and I drove south to Lone Tree to watch the best high school football game we have seen all year: Lisbon versus Lone Tree.
This was the second time we have seen Lisbon; the first was way back in Week 1 in West Branch. The Lions (from Lisbon; both teams were Lions tonight) were overmatched in that game but were equals to Lone Tree. They are two teams that are very well-acquainted: they met twice last year — once in the regular season and again during the playoffs — and Lisbon won both meetings. Lisbon’s only loss all season was against West Branch and Lone Tree only had two losses, so we were expecting a hard-fought, evenly matched game. And we got exactly what we expected.
Tonight was beautiful football weather: chilly and damp. At times there was a driving drizzle. Lone Tree’s football field is weird in the sense that it runs east-west instead of north-south. Beyond the west end zone is an empty field and the wind was blowing unobstructed, pushing the light precipitation southeast into the face of the Lisbon fans and whichever team was driving the ball that direction. I wore my fully-equipped Triclimate and kept warm and dry with the hood up. It was awesome!
Lisbon drew first blood with a long run on a zone-read. At least I think it was a zone-read. We were standing at the trackside fence with one of my dad’s former co-workers so our view was partially obstructed by the Lone Tree players on the sideline and the players on the field. However, we saw what needed to be seen. Lone Tree blocked the PAT. On offense, Lone Tree pushed the ball down the field to take the lead, 7-6. Lone Tree scored again before halftime, making the score 14-6.
In the third quarter, Lone Tree pinned Lisbon deep on their own five-yard line. A pass play was intercepted by Lone Tree but the turnover was nullified by a facemask penalty. Lisbon had new life and made the most of it: they drove the field and put the ball in the end zone. They missed a two-point conversion to make the score 14-12.
Things were getting interesting. On the ensuing drive, Lone Tree pushed the ball to their own forty-five and faced fourth-and-one. They lined up to go for it before their head coach called a timeout. I thought it was a bad call to go for it and the coach reconsidered and pinned Lisbon deep on their own fourteen-yard line. Lisbon could not move the ball so they punted the ball away with 3:51 left in the fourth.
Now, you would expected Lone Tree to keep the ball on the ground and eat the clock. (I mean, that is what I would have done.) Nope. On the first play they put it in the air. The pass was tipped and a Lisbon player ended up catching it. I thought the game was just about over when Lone Tree got the ball back but now Lisbon had a chance to take the lead. And that is exactly what they did after running the clock down to about forty-five seconds: they punched it across the goal line and then missed another two-point conversion, making the score 18-14.
Lone Tree needed a miracle and they almost got it. Their tall wide receiver snatched a pass and took the ball inside the red zone. However, a block in the back penalty put the ball on the thirty-five. After reaching the Lisbon nineteen with a little less than two seconds left on the clock, Lone Tree took one final snap to decide the game. The QB rolled out and no one was open. He was taken down by Lisbon defenders to end the game.
This was the second time we have seen Lisbon; the first was way back in Week 1 in West Branch. The Lions (from Lisbon; both teams were Lions tonight) were overmatched in that game but were equals to Lone Tree. They are two teams that are very well-acquainted: they met twice last year — once in the regular season and again during the playoffs — and Lisbon won both meetings. Lisbon’s only loss all season was against West Branch and Lone Tree only had two losses, so we were expecting a hard-fought, evenly matched game. And we got exactly what we expected.
Tonight was beautiful football weather: chilly and damp. At times there was a driving drizzle. Lone Tree’s football field is weird in the sense that it runs east-west instead of north-south. Beyond the west end zone is an empty field and the wind was blowing unobstructed, pushing the light precipitation southeast into the face of the Lisbon fans and whichever team was driving the ball that direction. I wore my fully-equipped Triclimate and kept warm and dry with the hood up. It was awesome!
Lisbon drew first blood with a long run on a zone-read. At least I think it was a zone-read. We were standing at the trackside fence with one of my dad’s former co-workers so our view was partially obstructed by the Lone Tree players on the sideline and the players on the field. However, we saw what needed to be seen. Lone Tree blocked the PAT. On offense, Lone Tree pushed the ball down the field to take the lead, 7-6. Lone Tree scored again before halftime, making the score 14-6.
In the third quarter, Lone Tree pinned Lisbon deep on their own five-yard line. A pass play was intercepted by Lone Tree but the turnover was nullified by a facemask penalty. Lisbon had new life and made the most of it: they drove the field and put the ball in the end zone. They missed a two-point conversion to make the score 14-12.
Things were getting interesting. On the ensuing drive, Lone Tree pushed the ball to their own forty-five and faced fourth-and-one. They lined up to go for it before their head coach called a timeout. I thought it was a bad call to go for it and the coach reconsidered and pinned Lisbon deep on their own fourteen-yard line. Lisbon could not move the ball so they punted the ball away with 3:51 left in the fourth.
Now, you would expected Lone Tree to keep the ball on the ground and eat the clock. (I mean, that is what I would have done.) Nope. On the first play they put it in the air. The pass was tipped and a Lisbon player ended up catching it. I thought the game was just about over when Lone Tree got the ball back but now Lisbon had a chance to take the lead. And that is exactly what they did after running the clock down to about forty-five seconds: they punched it across the goal line and then missed another two-point conversion, making the score 18-14.
Lone Tree needed a miracle and they almost got it. Their tall wide receiver snatched a pass and took the ball inside the red zone. However, a block in the back penalty put the ball on the thirty-five. After reaching the Lisbon nineteen with a little less than two seconds left on the clock, Lone Tree took one final snap to decide the game. The QB rolled out and no one was open. He was taken down by Lisbon defenders to end the game.
