Tabor survives scare from Friends
13th-ranked Tabor gets a scare from Friends
By RYAN RICHTER
Sports writer
Six games into the year, the Bluejays have yet to learn that leaving the door open long enough could lead to trouble, sooner or later.
Sooner nearly came before later Saturday afternoon in the 13th-ranked Bluejays homecoming game against the red-hot Friends Falcons at Reimer Field.
After snatching what might appear to be a commanding 28-7 lead at halftime, the Bluejay defense surrendered 21 unanswered points in the second half, eventually falling behind.
Playing uphill for just the second time this season, Tabor's Dwayne Cleaves responded by scoring on six- and 33-yard runs in the game's final 4:16 to finally slam the door on the Falcons.
Also the homecoming for former Atlanta Falcon-Tabor All-American Rolland (Bay) Lawrence having his jersey retired, the former three-time NFL All-Pro watched the Bluejays knock out a 47-35 win.
Cleaves carried the ball 22 times for a game-season-high 171 yards and three touchdowns.
Tyson Ratzlaff pulled down eight catches for 165 yards and a pair of TDs. Both he and Cleaves were huge in helping Tabor hang on for the victory.
The win keeps Tabor in a two-way log jam for the top spot in the KCAC with Ottawa at 5-0 and the Bluejays 6-0 on the year.
Fourteenth in the NAIA a week earlier in total offense and second in the KCAC, Tabor also gained control of the league's top spot after a 488-yard outing against the Falcons.
The Bluejays and coach Tim McCarty knew they would be in for a dogfight with Monte Lewis and the Falcons.
"The one thing I said about Friends going in is that they are pesky and they lived up to every bit of that," McCarty said. "Monte Lewis is a good football coach and time has proven that to be true. His teams never quit."
Back-to-back touchdown completions of 15 and 33 yards from Ricky Ishida to Ratzlaff put the Bluejays on top, 21-0, 2:31 into the second quarter.
Ishida completed 13 of 33 passes for 269 yards and two touchdowns while scoring the Bluejays' first touchdown on a two-yard keeper.
Boasting the sixth best ground game in the NAIA with the former sixth leading rusher, Aron Howell, Friends had to do its destruction in the air against the top-ranked Bluejay defense.
Giving up 87 yards a game against the rush, the Bluejay defense led by Eli Kennedy, held the KCAC's second best team carrying the ball to 173 yards below its average.
Not to mention keeping the water-bug Howell 100 yards under his 146-yard minimum.
Even with Olando Harris, Jason Phelps, CJ Hill, and Jeremy Loewen in the secondary, Falcon quarterback Brandon Jenkins still shredded the Bluejays pass defense, completing 21 of 35 for 308 yards.
Friends engineered respective scoring drives of 79, 36, 52, and 73 yards, and with 6:26 left in the game, the awestruck Bluejays were faced with a 35-34 incline.
Tabor's been fighting the long pass all season, and it was still a problem Saturday as Jenkins hit Kween Murphy for 65 and 35-yard touchdowns.
Ratzlaff made a pair of amazing catches for 52 yards to help set Tabor up for the go-ahead touchdown before turning the game over to Cleaves.
On a first-and-goal at six, Cleaves' six-yard run capped off a six-play 75-yard drive that left the Falcons 4:12 to work with.
The Bluejay defense made chances for a Falcon comeback grim, forcing Friends to turn the ball over on downs.
Cleaves drove the dagger right through the Falcons' heart with 1:19 left, scampering up the middle for 33-yards to make it a two-possession game for Friends.
"My hat goes off to our players, they never quit," said McCarty. "They got dealt some great adversity and to came back to win a game.
"Our offensive line played a great game and they deserve credit. Our crowd was amazing,"
Tabor travels Saturday to Leavenworth for a payback game against the St. Mary Spires.
The Spires stunned the Bluejays last season in overtime, 22-15.
St. Mary also topped Friends earlier in the season, 15-14, with the Falcons blowing a 14-0 shutout in the final 4:00.
