No. 24 Tabor holds off Warrior charge years ago
Tabor Bluejays remain undefeated
By RYAN RICHTER
Sports writer
Bluejay coach Mike Gardner's wish has finally been granted.
All season, one thing has kept the first year coach's mind wondering how his team would respond to adversity.
On Saturday night in Hillsboro against the victory-starved Sterling Warriors, Gardner got his answer.
It wasn't a matter of having to play uphill, but how to stay up after turning the ball over four times and missing a trio of extra points.
Nevertheless, the 24th ranked Bluejays (3-0, 2-0 KCAC) fought off a valiant effort by the Warriors (0-3, 0-2) with a 25-9 victory.
"How did we pull it out? We persevered," Gardner said. "We persevered and I was real proud how we came out the second half. We did a great job. I was proud of the team."
The first half started heading south on Tabor's opening possession.
Jeff McKinnon had the ball stripped to set the Warriors up at the Bluejay 35.
The Warriors threw something at the Bluejays they've yet to see this year, the option.
A team averaging more than 200 yards on the ground, Sterling was limited by the swarming Bluejay defense to 183 with the longest run being a 12 yards.
The Warriors were held to just 277 for the game while Tabor piled up 386 yards with 149 coming on the ground.
"Our defense did a great job against the option," said Gardner. "There's a lot of ways to play the option and we mixed it up a little bit.
"They (Sterling) have a good scheme, a good team, they're very well coached and they do as good a job as anybody I've been around at running the veer. They're not going to quit and I'm really hoping they can get a win this year. They deserve it."
About the only place the trio of CJ Hill, Brian Durowaiye, and Jake Schenk couldn't be found was at the concession stand.
Hill picked off a Nathan Baker pass and took it 36 yards to set Tabor up for a touchdown.
Throwing for 237 yards on 23-for-32, Ricky Ishida hit Layne Frick to give Tabor a first and 10 at the Warrior 36.
Frick caught six passes for a game-high 65 yards.
For the second week in a row, Roger Butler broke the 100-yard barrier, carrying 19 times for a game-high 103 yards, including a 10-yarder that got the Bluejays inside the red zone.
Facing a second and goal at the one, Ishida hit paydirt with 4:06 left in the first quarter.
Marcus Manny's PAT kick went wide right, giving Tabor a 6-0 lead.
The Bluejays would have been in severe trouble had the Warriors been able to capitalize on the mistakes.
Tabor wasted 1:54 and 63 yards on the opening drive of the second quarter, losing the ball on a Butler fumble.
By halftime, the Bluejays put the ball on the ground five times, losing two, while Ishida was picked twice.
Sterling finally cut the lead in two with 1:52 left in the first half with a 27-yard field goal by Ryan Heughan to stay on Tabor's warpath at halftime.
Getting the ball to start the second half, Sterling's drive ended when Caleb Mason forced a fumble by Baker and recovered it at the Warrior 26.
Butler redeemed himself on the ensuing drive, taking the pitch from Ishida 26 yards for the score.
Manny's PAT was good to put Tabor up 13-3, 2:45 into the second half.
Sterling spotted the Bluejays another touchdown, losing the ball on its next drive.
Racking up a game-high 15 tackles, Durowaiye added a forced fumble too, knocking it loose from Baker, and Tim Stevens recovering.
Ishida then hit Matt Rorabaugh for 20 yards and McKinnon for 16 to move Tabor again inside the Warrior 20.
A 10-yard strike to McKinnon from Ishida three plays later had the Bluejays again knocking on the door.
Ishida's two-yard keeper with 6:36 left in the third quarter broke the Warriors back, despite Manny missing another PAT.
"I was very positive with them at halftime and told them that was the kind of adversity I wanted them to see," Gardner said. "We fought through it, came out and scored quick. After we got up and got that second touchdown I knew we had them."
Sterling went, but it wasn't quietly, again cutting the lead to 10 on a four-yard score by Peter Wesner with 3:15 left in the game.
The Warriors went for two, but Baker once again lost the ball, leaving the score at 19-9.
Highlighted by an 18-yard run by Ted Telemaque, the Bluejays answered right back with Telemaque capping off an eight play 40-yard drive on fourth down at the Warrior 6.
Brian Kimsey got his crack at converting on the PAT, but to no avail.
With 17 seconds left, even John Elway would have had a slim chance saving the Warriors.
"I've never been in a game where we had that many turnovers and that many missed kicks and still won," Gardner said. "It's really nice to be in a position to say we did that."
The Bluejays take to the road Saturday for Salina for a tough homecoming game against Kansas Wesleyan, a team looking to snap a two-game slide to Tabor. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
