Tigers fly past Eagles in tough district showdown

    In a game featuring two of eight-man’s top offensive teams, one might expect a shootout as Tipton’s No. 3 ranked Tigers traveled to Burns Flat on Thursday for a showdown with the No. 6 Eagles.
    A showdown it was, but a shootout is wasn’t as the Tigers out-dueled the Eagles, 19-8, in a hard-fought defensive struggle.

Tigers vs Burns Flat Photo Gallery (Coming soon!)

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    “I told our guys all week that this would be a tough defensive struggle.” Tipton head coach Jim Kerbo said. “I’ve played Burns Flat for years and it’s always a defensive struggle.  I’ll tell you what, coach (Joe) Oliver’s a heck of a good coach and he knows something about defense.”
    Neither team was able to get anything going in the first as the two powerhouses exchanged possession several times.
    Burns Flat started driving late in the first and eventually found themselves with a first-and-goal from the Tiger 10-yard line early in the second quarter.  The Eagles appeared to score as quarterback Blake Whitson optioned around the right side and squeezed into the endzone from five yards out, but a procedure penalty nullified the score.  It turned out to be a huge penalty as the Tiger defense held the Eagles on fourth-and-goal from the four keeping the game scoreless.
    It didn’t remain scoreless for long as Robert Jasper took a sweep around the left side on the Tigers’ second play.  Several jukes, a broken tackle, and 92 yards later Jasper found the endzone for the game’s first score.  Jacob Cope booted the PAT and the Tigers had the lead, 7-0, with 9:12 remaining in the half.
    Burns Flat had an answer as they drove 70 yards on 12 plays.  Keith Schneberger capped the drive with a four-yard touchdown dive, and Curtis Schneberger added the two-point conversion giving the Eagles an 8-7 lead heading into the locker rooms.
    “I told the guys at halftime that they (Burns Flat) controlled the ball in the first half,” Kerbo said of his half-time speech, “but I told the guys that I truly believed, in all my heart, that our offensive and defensive lines would take over the football game in the second half and that we’d control the football.”
    It turned out coach Kerbo’s heart knows what it’s talking about as the Tigers took the ball to open the second half and promptly took control of the game with an 11-play 60 yard drive that lasted nearly half of the third quarter.  Jasper again did the honors as he put the Tigers up for good with a seven-yard burst.  The two-point conversion was no good, but the Tigers had all they would need, 13-8.
    The Tigers added another score early in the fourth as quarterback Justin White floated a pass into the endzone on fourth-and-17 from the Eagle 22-yard line.  Nathan Soliz cut in front of an Eagle defender to make a diving grab for the touchdown and the game’s final margin, 19-8.
    “I’ll tell you what, my hat’s off to Burns Flat,” Kerbo said of the Eagles, “because they’re a heck of a football team.  They’ve got some good athletes, they’re big, and they’ve got speed.  I guarantee it, they’ll be right there when the playoff roll around.  They’re a team that somebody’s going to have to reckon with.”
    With the win, the Tigers remain unbeaten on the season at 7-0, but more importantly 5-0 in district play.  The Tigers can clinch the District B-1 championship with just one with in their final two games.  Tipton looks to bring home the crown on Friday as they travel to Merritt to take on the Oilers.