Tigers turn away last-second threat to clip Timberlake

EDMOND—Tipton has shoved aside team after team over the past three seasons, many of those via the 45-point mercy rule, but Thursday the Tigers needed a huge defensive play from sophomore Chris Addy to preserve a tense 28-20 victory over Timberlake to claim their third straight Class C state football title.

The battle of 13-0 teams lived up to the pre-game hype and the outcome wasn’t sealed until the final play of the game when the 6-4 Addy batted away a fourth-down pass by Timberlake quarterback Payton Pierce, setting off a big celebration by Tipton’s players and coaches.

After Addy stopped the 4th-and-goal pass on the game’s final play, he raced from near the Tipton 5-yard-line to the Timberlake 5-yard-line before his teammates chased him down to celebrate his walk-off defensive gem.

On this windy day, though, there were many heroes for the Tigers who won their third straight crown and padded their winning streak to 42 games.

“Chris was giving them a lot of problems and on that last one we needed somebody to make a big play and he did,” Tipton Head Coach Travis White said. “He’s just a sophomore and still learning the game but he is very athletic. We had to have that one because we knew they wouldn’t go down without a fight.”

For a brief moment Tipton appeared to have the game well in hand after building a 28-14 lead after a 33-yard touchdown run by Johnny Fernandez with 4:11 left in the game.

However, Timberlake got decent field position after the ensuing kickoff return, starting from its own 37. With Timberlake having the gusty southerly wind at its back in the final quarter, it started throwing the ball and moved quickly to a first down at the Tipton 38. Addy and J.J. Jillah combined to sack Pierce on second down but he hit Mavric Judd for 10 yards on third down to set up a 4th-and-6 from the Tipton 34.

Pierce was able to move around enough in the pocket to find time to locate Paxton Glenn on a short pass and the 6-6 junior took it to the end zone with 2:16 left in the game. Pierce followed that by getting the ball to Gage Madden who just got into the end zone for a 2-point PAT to cut the Tipton lead to 28-20.

With the Timberlake fans and sideline worked to a frenzy with the quick touchdown, Tipton stayed on the ground on three straight plays and was unable to get a first down that could have melted down the clock. However, that series forced Timberlake to use all three timeouts, which played a critical role in the final minute of the game. On 4th-and-4 from its own 22, Coach White opted to have Fernandez punt into the stiff wind and while the kick went just 26 yards, it did force Timberlake to have go 48 yards to score.

Three straight pass completions netted Timberlake a first down at the Tipton 35 with 1:03 remaining on the clock. Judd got the ball on the next play and scrambled all over the field before finding a big opening and racing to the Tipton 5-yard-line.

That’s when the Tipton defense dug deep to find a new level of toughness. Judd got two yards on first down but Madden lost those yards on second down. Pierce was pressured on third down and forced to throw an incomplete pass that hit the turf with two seconds remaining in the game.

A false start cost Timberlake five precious yards and that all but forced it to throw on 4th-and-goal from the 8-yard-line. Pierce tried to roll right but Addy was in his face instantly and when the Timberlake quarterback saw the rush coming he tried to throw the ball but Addy slapped it away and then set off on his journey downfield as his teammates gave chase.

While the defense saved the game at the end, it was the offense that provided the lead that the Tigers needed to build a lead and force Timberlake to play from behind.

The Tigers had the wind in the first quarter and it was key as they kept Timberlake pinned deep and got stops twice in the first quarter. The second turnover on downs gave Tipton the ball at the Timberlake 46 and it took the Tigers nine plays to score with Roy Manriquez scoring from thee yards out. Fernandez ran the PAT across for an 8-0 lead with 1:02 left in the first quarter.

When Timberlake got the wind in the second quarter it went 49 yards on three plays to get on the board. Pierce hit DJ Lauppe for 39 yards on the first play and Judd got the TD from nine yards out with 4:57 left in the half. The PAT run failed.

A.J. Gaye gave Tipton good field position on a kickoff return to the Timberlake 44 and this time Jillah took over in the backfield, carrying the ball five times on the drive, the score coming on an 8-yard-run. Quarterback Kaydence Sheffield used a good fake to reach the corner and convert the 2-point PAT run for a 16-6 lead with 2:14 left in the half.

“I thought out offensive line did a good job getting some movement up front,” White said. “We just decided to run right at them. Fernandez and Jillah each had some big runs and Lucas Chavez went in at guard and really did a good job. I kept telling our guys that Timberlake is going to keep coming so we needed to keep being productive on offense.”

And like White warned, Timberlake came fighting back thanks to an interception on the first play of the third quarter and a 45-yard drive that was capped by a Pierce 7-yard TD run. He added the PAT run and it was 16-14.

Tipton reached the Timberlake 16 on its next possession but bogged down. The defense did its job, though, stopping Timberlake at its own 30 on a 4th-and-5.

Fernandez then took over, running five times on the next series including bulling into the end zone from two yards out on the first play of the fourth quarter for a 22-14 lead that set the stage for the final heroics down the stretch.