Tigers Rally Past Blue Devils 42-28

The Rockwood Tigers squared off with the Harriman Blue Devils Friday night for the 95th time. The 1-2 punch of Rockwood’s Jason Gaus and Drake long proved more than the Harriman Blue Devils could handle Friday night, as the Tigers (3-0) rallied from an early 14-point deficit to knock off the Blue Devils, 42-28, in front of a large crowd at Civitan Field increasing their winning streak to 6 straight over the Devils. The record now stands at 54-35-6 in favor of the Tigers in the states longest running rivalry.

The first half belonged to Gaus as he rushed for 133 yards and two TDs on eight attempts. He ended the evening with 179 yards on 10 attempts and those numbers could have been greater if not for leaving the game for good with 3:40 remaining in the third quarter with an injury.

The second half was big for Long. He was limited to 16 yards rushing on 10 attempts at halftime, but he exploded for 144 yards and two TDs on only seven carries in the second half.

“We just beat a pretty dang good football team,” Rockwood Head Coach John Webb said following the Tigers’ sixth straight victory over the Blue Devils in the state’s longest consecutive running rivalry. “We knew early on that they would key on Drake and Gaus came up big. He got us back in the game, he kept us in the gam and he got us ahead in the game.

“Then we knew at halftime they would have to adjust to stop him and we had to make some adjustments that really got Drake going.”

For Harriman (2-1), the loss was the first of the season and was disappointing considering the fast start.

“We played well early, but they had that big spurt before halftime then we turned the ball over to start the second half and in a big game like this that will cost you,” Harriman Head Coach Travis Tapp said. “But this is only week three and it’s a long season. We’re going to have to improve on both sides of the ball as we move on.”

Harriman came out on fire Friday. The Blue Devils opened the game by successfully recovering a pooch kick at the Tiger 32-yard line.

Seven plays later, Monte Ewing scored on a 19-yard run then Grant Jenkins added the PAT to make the score 7-0.

Rockwood tried to answer on its first drive as a 39-yard run from Gaus moved the Tigers inside the Blue Devil 20, but Harriman’s defense stiffened and took over on downs.

The score remained 7-0 until Harriman’s Travis Kirkland capped a 7-play, 62-yard drive with a 1-yard run to make the score 14-0 with 11:08 left in the first half.

Rockwood, however, wouldn’t let the Blue Devils deliver an early knockout. The Tigers responded with an 8-play, 57-yard scoring drive that ended in a 14-yard run from Gaus.

Trey Treadway added the PAT to close the gap to 14-7 with 7:54 left in the first half.

Rockwood’s next scoring drive was a quick 5-play, 80-yard drive that ended in Gaus rumbling into the end zone from 35 yards out to tie the game at 14 with 2:51 left in the second quarter.

A 33-yard screen pass from Will Warner to Justin Domon set up the score.

The game seemed destined to be tied at halftime after Rockwood forced a punt, but a 26-yard punt return from Long gave the Tigers possession near midfield, and then Warner engineered the two-minute to perfection. He completed 4-of-5 passes on the drive, including a 4-yard touchdown strike to Austin Cooper to give the Tigers a 21-14 lead with 10.4 seconds left in the half.

A 21-yard run by Gaus was also big in the drive.

“That was a big drive for us right there,” Webb said. “I thought we did a good job of managing the clock and completing some passes coming into the half. The momentum really swung in our favor. ”

Harriman drove past midfield to start the second half, but Rockwood’s Jayden Woods recovered a Blue Devil fumble then Gaus and Long made Harriman pay.

Gaus ripped off a 47-yard run and Long scored two plays later on a 22-yard run to give the Tigers a 28-14 lead with 9:14 left in the third quarter.

Down but not out, Harriman answered the call with an 11-play, 73-yard drive that featured a 26-yard pass from Brantley Taylor to Javian Witherspoon and a lot of Garrett Greene on the ground.

Greene carried nine times for 41 yards on the drive with his final carry being a 2-yard touchdown run that pulled Harriman back to within seven points at 28-21 with 3:58 left in the third quarter.

Gaus went out for good on Rockwood’s next offensive play, but Long stepped up, scoring on a 30-yard run to put the finishing touches on a 63-yard scoring drive that gave the Tigers a 35-21 lead with 39.1 seconds remaining in the third quarter.

Rockwood finally started to breathe easy when DE Dallas Strader came up with back-to-back sacks to put an end to Harriman’s first drive of the final period.

The Tigers then delivered the knockout blow when Jared Kilby scored from 9 yards out to cap a 6-play, 80-yard drive that made the score 42-21 with 4:26 remaining.

Long set up the score with a 61-yard run.

Harriman did score again when JoJo Luna scored from 2 yards out with 22.4 seconds left to finish off a, 74-yard drive.

Rockwood ended the evening with 446 yards of offense with 364 yards coming on the ground. Warner completed 8-of-11 passes for 82 yards.

Harriman also put up big numbers offensively. The Blue Devils ended the evening with 332 yards. The Blue Devils amassed 293 yards on the ground with Greene (23-113-1 TD) and Ewing (10-71-1 TD) leading the way.

Up next for Harriman (2-1) is a trip to Whitwell (1-2).

“It’s going to be a test of character for us,” Tapp said. “We’ve got to pick it up, have a good week of practice, make a long road trip, and come away with a win.”

Rockwood (3-0) will have another rivalry game on tap Friday when the Tigers travel to Kingston (0-2).

“I told them to enjoy this one, but come Monday we’ll have to come back down and get ready for Kingston our second biggest rivalry,” Webb added. "They have started out 0-2 , but have played 2 pretty good football teams in Grace Christian and Scott County so far. Kingston will put a good football team out their Fiday night and Coach Panky will have them ready to play for sure.