Tipp gets back on track with 49-0 rout of Piqua
Coming off a tough opening loss, the Tippecanoe Red Devils turned the page in a big way last Friday night, as they traveled to Piqua for their MVL football opener. Tipp scored early and often, building a large halftime lead and cruising to a 49-0 victory over the Indians to even their record at 1-1 on the season.
The Red Devils used all three phases of their game to build a 42-0 lead at the half. They utilized a running clock the entire second half to close out the shutout and get on the winning track.
“I have said for years, the biggest improvement that teams can make is from week one to week two,” Tippecanoe coach Matt Burgbacher said. “You are coming off a tough loss, and you didn’t know how they would respond, but we had a really good week of practice.”
“They came out here tonight and were ready. We got the ball to start the game and our offense set the tone. All three phases of the game were tremendous. Did we make some mistakes? Absolutely. We have a long way to go, but we closed that gap from last week.”
Tipp opened the scoring when James Merry scored from two yards out with 8:22 left in the opening quarter to take a quick 7-0 lead.
On their next possession, the Red Devils drove 55 yards. After a Larkin Thomas touchdown run was called back, Tipp scored again when Colston Artz punched it in from two yards out with 5:42 left in the period, pushing the Tipp lead to 14-0.
After Thomas threw an interception for Tipp, their defense stepped up when Toby Hoover picked off a Piqua pass and returned it 50 yards for a score, making it 21-0.
Artz then scored his second touchdown of the day with 7:07 left in the half from 12 yards out, giving Tipp a 28-0 lead, and the running clock was in sight.
Then, with 5:34 left in the half, Levi Jones took it in from three yards out to extend the lead to 35-0 before the Red Devils closed out the scoring with 3:18 left in the second period when Hoover added an offensive touchdown from two yards out to send Tipp into the locker room with a 42-0 lead.
The Red Devils closed out the scoring when Thomas hit Bentley Heckman on a 25-yard fade pass into the end zone, making it 49-0.
“We saw a lot of better things this week from the kids, but the biggest thing was their effort and they played hard. We played with big focus tonight.”
Tipp heads to Fairborn this week for a 7 p.m. kickoff.
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