An interception by Ty Phillips on a fourth down pass with just under two minutes to play set up the winning touchdown as the Grove Ridgerunners snapped a seven-game losing streak with a 20-14 win over the Tulsa Central Braves Friday night at Ridgerunner Stadium.
Facing 4th and 2 at the Grove 47, the normally run-heavy Braves (3-6 overall, 2-4 in District 5A-4) elected to pass, and Phillips stepped in front of a short slant route and returned the ball to the Central 23.
“They lined up in doubles and they’d been running the ball a lot, so I felt like they might try to catch us off guard and throw something behind us,” Phillips said. “As they lined up I saw the quarterback look at the slot receiver. It just kind of happened and I just broke on the ball.”
The senior then added the game-winning points, scoring on fourth down from inside the one-yard line with eight seconds to play, his second touchdown of the night.
“I just wanted that. I told [head] coach [Dennis Millican], ‘Let me finish this.’ I’d brought us that far I just wanted to finish it.”
Faced with a decision of kicking of field goal or trying to get into the end zone, Millican ultimately decided to put the ball in the hands of his senior H-back.
“That’s when all your assistant coaches disappear,” Millican said. “There were several factors. We had confidence that Ty was going to get it in. If we didn’t make it the worst that could happen was we’d go into overtime. So it wasn’t as risky as it sounded.”
Phillips also scored a 1-yard touchdown in the third quarter that gave Grove its largest lead of the game at 14-6. The score was set up by a fumbled snap on a Central punt that gave the Ridgerunners the ball at the Braves 32. Quarterback Jake Spychalski then found Matt Jeffries on a double move down the left sideline for a 24-yard gain, and Phillips punched it in two plays later.
The game began as a defensive struggle for much of the first half before the Ridgerunners (2-7, 1-5) broke through with a big play when Spychalski rolled left and hit Trent Lyle for a 38-yard gain to the Central 28. Five plays later, Spychalski connected with Jeffries on a fade pattern in the corner of the end zone from 15 yards out for a 7-0 lead with just over 4:30 left in the first half.
Central would answer on the first drive of the second half not with University of Tulsa commit DeAngelo Brewer but with tailback D.J. Daniels. Daniels ran the ball six straight times to start the possession, gaining 33 yards before finishing the drive from 10 yards out. A missed extra point left Grove in the lead at 7-6.
Brewer would then answer Phillips’s first touchdown with one of his own, covering 51 yards in two plays, the second a 23-yard touchdown run. The senior quarterback then added the two-point conversion to tie the score with 35 seconds left in the third.
The Grove offense then stalled, going three-and-out on two consecutive possessions. Central drove to the Grove 19 on one drive, only to be penalized for ineligible receivers downfield, eventually leading to a turnover on downs. The Braves then moved just past midfield, but Brewer’s 13th pass attempt of the night was one too many, as Phillips made the decisive play.
“I told them at halftime that I was going to use reverse psychology,” Millican said. “I’ve used up all my halftime speeches, so I’m going to do the opposite. I told them, ‘You’ve been in this position before. You know what to do.’”
Friday’s game was the fifth of the season decided by seven points or less, but the first one where Grove came out on top.
