Rothsay would start out on offense but be forced to punt after only a few plays.  The Tiger defense would get a stop of their own forcing a turnover on downs.  The second drive by Rothsay would see them convert a few different fourth downs and ultimately score on a 17 yard touchdown pass.  The 2-point attempt would be successful and the Tigers would take an 8-0 lead  in the 2nd quarter.

The Bears would try to get their offense going but on a 4th and 8 to go they would drop back to pass and get sacked forcing a fumble and give the Tigers good field position.  Rothsay would not take advantage though and gave the ball back to Bertha-Hewitt after a few miscues of their own.  This time it would be the Rothsay Defense to come up with a big play and force an interception.  This time the Tigers would capitalize scoring on a 27 yard touchdown run.  The 2-point conversion attempt would fail but the Tigers would go into halftime with a 14-0 lead.

“We were pretty dominant in the first half,” Coach Joshua Nordick would say. “We were able to mix it up a bit and get a few big plays on defense.”

The second half saw the Bears offense come alive.  Scoring on their opening drive to cut the lead to 14-8.  The Tigers would answer on their second play for a 40 yard run to go up 20-8.  The Bears would not give up as they would use a strong run game to march down the field and score again to cut the lead to 20-16.

Rothsay would start to keep momentum on their side but stall out on the ensuing drive giving the ball back to Bertha-Hewitt who eventually would score on a 4th and goal from the 1 to take their first lead of the night against an exhausted Tiger team, 22-20.  After trying to create a big play it would be the Bears who would use a good speed rush and force the Tigers into a turnover on downs.  One final touchdown by the Bears would put the game away for a final of 30-20. 

“I thought our team fought hard until the end, but they just wore us out up front,” Nordick said.  “We had our chances but in the end they made some good adjustments and we couldn’t counter their adjustments on offense.” 

The Tigers will travel to Hillcrest Lutheran Academy next week to take on the Comets.

The Tigers were led on offense by Colby Larson (148yards rushing, 34 yards receiving, 3TDs) and Tanner Heier with 92 yards passing. The Tiger defense was led by Heier and Ethan Curtis with double digit tackles each.