Red Devils secure MVL title with shutout of Troy

A statement was made on Friday night.

With the regular season coming to a close this Friday night, the Tippecanoe football team secured the Miami Valley League championship and a first-round bye in the upcoming playoffs with a 21-0 shutout of Troy in front of a capacity crowd at Tipp Park Stadium.

With the win, the Red Devils can complete an undefeated regular season this Friday night with their final game at West Carrollton (0-9).

The Red Devils will also get Week 11 off as part of the new playoff system giving them a bye into the second week of the playoffs, which will be played at the Tipp Park on November 7.

“Our boys were prepared and they prepared like champions all week,” Tipp coach Matt Burgbacher said. “The proof is in the pudding with what we did. Troy is a good football team over there and I liked how our kids played and they played hard to be able to shut them out.”

Tipp gave up a couple of plays on the night, but honestly were in complete control of the game from the opening kickoff.

“We gave up a few plays but it was great to see the team come together,” he added. “We have had some injuries and some things go against us, but this team has never waivered and they keep fighting and great things happened.”

Tipp scored on their opening possession of the game capped by a 21-yard touchdown pass from Larkin Thomas to Grant Titley on a touch catch in the endzone as the Tipp junior quarterback continues to add to his school record career stats.

A great special teams play on Troy’s next possession kept them off the board as the Trojans drove close to the red zone only to see a Troy field goal blocked by the Tipp front line, giving the Red Devils the ball and the start of another scoring drive.

A long possession capped by a fourth down touchdown run by Xavier Melton from four yards out pushed the Tipp lead to 14-0 with 8:14 left in the half.

Tipp did recover an onside kick but could not score on the ensuing drive, but their defense stepped up again on the next Troy drive. A big third-down hit from Tipp’s Ryan Kolb forced Troy to punt, keeping them out of the end zone and sending the game to the half 14-0.

Tipp scored what turned out to be the final points of the game on their first drive of the third quarter when Melton scampered in from five yards out with 8:11 left in the third period and Tipp leading 21-0.

In the fourth period, Troy was driving on their way for their first points of the game when James Merry sacked the Troy quarterback on a fourth down inside the five, giving the ball back to Tipp who later sealed the shutout when Atticus Poulos picked off a Troy pass to seal the shutout.

“All three phases got the job done, and sure we would have loved to put more points on the board, but when we needed to control the ball, we did,” Burgbacher said. “Defensively we got the stop. We want to finish this off at 10-0 (next) week, but we want to enjoy this one tonight.”