LOYAL. LOCAL. COMPLETE.
OAKLAND – September 30, 2022.
That date was the last time the Tri-County Titans football team captured a win, beating the Argenta-Oreana Bombers on the road. It had been 707 days since Tri-County cracked the win column having lost thirteen games in a row, including all nine games last season, heading into Friday night's home opener at Titans Field in Oakland, taking on the Cerro Gordo-Bement Broncos in Lincoln Prairie Conference action. Both teams were shut out in their opening night games last week and looked to finally break the seal on this season with a win.
The Titans had a little curve in the road in preparation for this contest as the Tri-County community dealt with tragedy on Tuesday, Sept. 3, as Shiloh High School student Aaliyah Rose (Hernandez) passed away. That meant only a few days of practice for the Titans this week. The question of how the Titans would deal with this adversity going into the game hung in the air.
Needless to say, the Titans took this challenge head-on and succeeded.
On a beautiful fall night with crisp, cool temperatures, Tri-County used a solid, calculating game plan to take the lumber to Cerro Gordo-Bement, finally breaking their long losing streak and taking a hard-fought 39-30 win – turning what were tears of sorrow during the week to tears of joy to end heading into the weekend.
After the Broncos stalled out on their opening drive of the game, the Titans took their first drive of the contest, using a methodic, powerful approach. The Titans took the football right to the Cerro Gordo-Bement defense and capitalized at the 2:04 mark as Garrett Pollock hit Andy Houlihan in stride. Houlihan took the pass going 23 yards for the opening touchdown. Myles Watson then caught the two-point conversion pass from Pollock, giving the Titans an 8-0 lead. That was the only score of the opening quarter for both teams.
In the second quarter, CGB answered with a strong running game of their own, driving down to the Titans’ one-yard line. The Broncos then were rewarded as Eli Corpus took the quarterback sneak in from a yard out with 7:47 left.
Corpus threw the two-point conversion pass to Lucas Fuson to tie the contest at 8-8. On the next Tri-County possession, the running game continued to thrive. A mixture of inside-outside running paid off at the 2:20 mark as Jimmy Dillion powered his way in from six yards out. Dillon also punched in the two-point conversion to make the score 16-8.
However, CGB got a great kick return to get inside Tri-County territory and used the running game once again as Azul Mendez ran the ball in from ten yards out with 1:21 left. Quintin Nevius ran in the two-point conversion to tie the contest at 16-16.
On the ensuing kickoff, Christian Blackburn took it and handed it off to Watson at their own six-yard line and Watson found a seam down the sideline to take the kick back 94 yards to the end zone for a touchdown at the 1:05 mark. Pollock ran in the two-point conversion to give the Titans a 24-16 lead. That lead held up going into the halftime break.
In the third quarter, the Titans were marching down the field until the Broncos forced the first Titan turnover of the game as Mendez intercepted a pass from Pollock. CGB then marched down the field, getting to the Tri-County six-yard line. The Titan defense stood firm, as Dillon busted through the CGB offensive line to cause a fumble on the snap which was recovered by the Titans. Tri-County then went on a 94-yard drive that ended with four seconds left in the quarter as Dillon ran the ball in from eight yards out. Dillon also ran in the two-point conversion giving the Titans a 32-16 lead. The quarter ended with the Broncos getting a huge kick return deep into Titans territory heading into the final twelve minutes.
The Broncos capitalized on the kick return early in the fourth quarter as Corpus ran the ball in from one yard out. But the two-point conversion failed, making the score 32-22.
The Titans' final drive was another long drive that chewed nearly nine minutes off the clock. Dillon ran the ball in from six yards out with 2:55 left. Andy Houlihan kicked the extra point to make the score 39-22.
CGB didn't show any quit, driving the ball down the field in quick fashion and scoring with 1:04 left as Corpus found Brenden Puckett for a nine-yard touchdown pass. Corpus ran in the two-point conversion to cut the deficit to 39-30. The Broncos tried an onside kick, but the kick didn't go the allowed ten yards and the Titans ran out the clock to secure their first win of the season and end their thirteen-game losing streak. It was a win that Head Coach TJ Blake was happy to finally get to enjoy.
"The pressure is definitely off," Blake said. "Seven hundred and seven days, and of course all those 707 days have been under my watch. I have definitely taken a lot of pride to right this ship, and of course after last week it was a tough week and then we tried to turn the page and have a clean slate this week and of course we had some adversity within the community, and obviously very tragic. I talked to the guys before the game and said that this was an opportunity for all three communities from all three schools to kind of come together and do this the right way. I told them to go play for that girl. I didn't know her, but I know a lot of those kids did and (I told them) go play for her and go play for this community. Go play for the guys in this locker room right now, and don't worry about anything that is outside the fence. They did exactly that."
Unofficially, Jimmy Dillon led the Titans with 23 carries for 177 yards and three touchdowns. Myles Watson had 14 carries for 125 yards and one catch for eight yards. Watson also scored on the 94-yard kick return. Garrett Pollock was three of five, passing for 43 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Pollock also had an interception on the defensive side. It was an all-around performance that Coach Blake hopes can be sustained for the last seven games of the season.
"Last year was rough," Blake said. "Going 0-9, we kind of didn't have a whole lot of confidence. We did some good things each and every game. I think having this win and finally getting that pressure off of us of not winning for a while, that is going to help and going to be a huge morale boost for this team. I think that these guys are hungry. They’re going to know what it is like to wake up on a Saturday morning and have a win. There is still work to be done. There is still work to be had. We're definitely going to enjoy this one tonight. We're going to celebrate, then it is back to work.”
Eli Corpus led the Broncos with 16 carries for 79 yards and two touchdowns and was seven of 15 passing for 149 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Brendan Puckett had three catches for 64 yards and a score.