The Alvord Bulldogs football team proved they were the district’s top dog after a 27-20 win over the Tioga Bulldogs on Oct. 23.
Tioga jumped out to an early lead in the first quarter, but turnovers and penalties allowed Alvord to rally and send them home 2-2 in district play.
“It was a tough one,” said Zach Birdwell, Tioga athletic director and head football coach. “… Dropping another one by a touchdown, especially one that held as much weight as that game did, was tough, but the kids had a great week of practice. They did everything they needed to leading up to it, but sometimes it just doesn’t fall your way.”
Tioga struck first, when receiver Jaxson Hurst caught a bubble screen and weaved his way through Alvord’s secondary and into the end zone from 13 yards out, putting Tioga up 6-0 after a failed 2-point attempt.
Later in the first quarter, Tioga quarterback Greeley McAden extended his team’s lead to 12-0 with a 24-yard touchdown run.
Alvord finally crossed the goal line with a 2-yard touchdown run in the second quarter, making the score 12-6.
McAden helped Tioga regain its two-score lead, 20-6, with his second rushing touchdown, this time on a short goal line plunge, but Alvord refused to go away, answering with a 43-yard rushing touchdown and putting them back within striking distance.
An interception on Tioga’s ensuing drive gave Alvord the ball back, leading to a third secondquarter rushing score and tying the game at 20 as the game went into the half.
The two squads traded possessions in the second half, with neither finding much success until late in the fourth quarter, when Alvord made its way into the end zone for its fourth rushing touchdown of the game, taking a 27-20 lead.
Tioga moved the ball into Alvord territory on the next drive but was held out of the end zone and was forced to turn the ball over on downs, sealing the win for Alvord.
“When you look up at the end of the game, and you have three turnovers, and the other team has zero, it’s going to be hard to win those games, especially when the other team is as good as Alvord is,” Birdwell said. “We talked all week about starting hot, and we did, but then we found ways, through penalties or turnovers, to beat ourselves, and those are the things we have to eliminate if we want to win district championships and if we want to make playoff runs.”
With the goal of defending their district championship behind them, Birdwell emphasized that his team still has their sights set on their remaining goals.
“We’re just going to continue to focus on what I mentioned earlier; we can’t beat ourselves,” he said. “We can’t look up and have penalties and turnovers be what cost us games, … so those are the things we’re looking to clean up this week. Our first program goal was to win a district championship, but unfortunately that one’s off the table for this year, so we are looking to clean up as much as we possibly can, see if we can’t go fight for second place and set ourselves up a little bit better in the playoffs.”
