By Drew Terhall

Dailyadvocate.com

ARCANUM — The Tri-Village football team held on to spoil Arcanum’s homecoming game as they won 28-20 on Oct. 4 in front of the Trojan crowd.

Tri-Village head coach Matt Hopkins said he was extremely proud of how his defense played the whole game. While Arcanum did make some plays against them, the defense led them to this victory.

“Defensively, they played unbelievably lights out all game long. Yeah we gave up some big passes and stuff like that. But listen, they’re good. Their athletes are good. They got behind us and the kid made a pass and they made plays,” Hopkins said. “Offensively, I didn’t think we were very good. We got it going in the second half and played like we can. But, we’re not where we need to be offensively. But again, that’s credit to them.”

Arcanum was missing a big piece to their offense and defense in senior Truman Knaus. He is a big target at tight end and is a game changer on the defensive line. Arcanum head coach Matt Macy said while it did hurt not having Knaus, it’s not an excuse for losing this game. Macy said he is proud of his guys for continuing to fight all game long and for keeping their emotions in check in an intense rivalry game.

“We got to make a few more plays. We didn’t do it. However, to have the ball with two minutes to go with a chance to tie it, proud of our guys. I thought we played a classy game,” Macy said.

After a scoreless first quarter, the offenses started to get going in the second quarter. Arcanum originally punted on a fourth and eight that was returned for a touchdown by Tri-Village sophomore Griffin Richards. But, a running into the kicker penalty gave Arcanum a fourth and short in which they converted. Three plays later, Arcanum sophomore Bishop Cartwright hit senior Luke Midlam for a 27-yard touchdown pass to go up 6-0.

But Tri-Village responded. On third and long, junior Trey Sagester found senior Lane Bierly down the sideline for a 69-yard touchdown pass. After the two-point conversion was good, the Patriots led 8-6.

Arcanum was looking to score again as Cartwright found sophomore Lucas Miller for a big gain down to the 23-yard line. But on a fourth down attempt, Cartwright was picked off by Richards with 4:12 left in the second quarter.

With the ball on their own one-yard line, Tri-Village strung together plays to get some breathing room and move down the field. Sagester found senior Mason Weathington for a big gain to get into Arcanum territory. Sophomore Hayden Hunt then capped off the 99-yard scoring drive with a 39-yard touchdown run. Tri-Village led 16-6 after that and took that lead into halftime.

On the first possession of the second half, Arcanum sophomore MJ Macy scored a two yard touchdown to make it a 16-12 game.

Tri-Village responded with a score of their own. Sagester found Richards for a 33-yard completion to get them to the Arcanum one-yard line. Sagester took it in himself from there to lead 22-12.

Macy said Tri-Village did a great job containing their run game, but his offense was able to make some plays through the air. Cartwright hit Midlam for a 38-yard completion for a first down on the Tri-Village 12-yard line. Macy scored a one-yard touchdown run later to make it 22-20 with 3:56 left in the third quarter.

Macy said his team did a great job recovering from the big plays Tri-Village made, but couldn’t make enough plays to come away with the win.

Arcanum recovered an onside kick after that score, but couldn’t get back into the endzone. Tri-Village took advantage of that opportunity as Hunt went on a two-play scoring drive himself. He ran for a 52-yard gain and then ran for a two-yard touchdown. A failed two-point conversion kept Arcanum within a score, 28-20. Hopkins said the offense did a great job in the second half run blocking and Hunt did a great job breaking off some big runs.

Then the defenses shined late in the game. Tri-Village stopped Arcanum on a fourth and one from the 30-yard line. Later in the fourth quarter, freshman Colt Camacho picked off Cartwright.

For the Trojans, they got a fourth and goal stop from the five yard line to get the ball back. Hopkins said not being able to score from that position is one of the things they need to fix offensively. They later forced a Tri-Village three and out with 2:34 left in the game to set up a potential game-tying drive.

Then with the home crowd loud, the Patriots did their job and got the stop they needed to seal the win.

“They locked in to what they needed to do. We heard the noise all week long. We expected a rowdy crowd and it’s fun. This is why you play high school football, this kind of environment and this kind of atmosphere. Our defense really stepped it up,” Hopkins said.

Macy said the defense stepped up when they needed to, but the offense couldn’t complement them as they couldn’t get much going in the fourth quarter.

The Trojans have been in close games for most of this season, something that didn’t happen often last season. They are trending in the right direction.

“We’re closer. We’re not getting blown out. We got blown out a couple times last year. We are in games with a chance to win in the fourth quarter. That’s all I can really ask of our guys at this point. I’m still happy with how we played the game tonight. We couldn’t make quite enough plays,” Macy said.

For Tri-Village, this win gives them a good boost in the playoff rankings. Hopkins said this is big win for their playoff seeding as they are focusing on getting ready for the postseason.

“We got to fix some things. We got to get things straighten out offensively. If our defense can play like this and bail our offense out right now, we’ll be alright,” Hopkins said.

Tri-Village is 5-2 on the season with a 4-2 WOAC record. They will host Dixie on Oct. 11 at 7 p.m. Arcanum is now 4-3 with a 4-2 WOAC record. They will host Preble Shawnee on Oct. 10 at 7 p.m.

Contact Daily Advocate sports editor Drew Terhall at [email protected].