Tinora 21 Paulding 18

PAULDING – The Tinora Rams clinched at least a tie for the Green Meadows Conference on Friday night with a thrilling come-from-behind win over the Paulding Panthers, 21-18.

Trailing 18-14, Tinora Sophomore quarterback Owen Ferrell hit Dylan Schaufele with a 52-yard touchdown with 4:29 remaining in the fourth quarter. The Rams defense came up with a huge fourth-down stop with just under two minutes as the Panthers were driving deep in Tinora territory.

On a beautiful Friday night from Keyser Field, Tinora got the scoring underway as they took their opening drive 75 yards, capped by a 16-yard touchdown from Ferrell to Schaufele, which gave the visiting Rams a 6-0 lead. Jacob Bishop added the XP for a 7-0 lead with 6:36 in the opening quarter.

The high-scoring Panthers would answer on the ensuing drive, as Colten Hunt hit Jordan Manz in the corner of the endzone for a 20-yard score, cutting the Rams’ lead to 7-6. The Panther two-point conversion was stopped, and the Rams held the 7-6 lead with 2:53 in the initial quarter of play.

Both teams traded punches over the next few series, and the score remained 7-6 as the second quarter wound down.

After the Tinora defense stopped the Panthers on fourth down, the Rams offense resumed with just over four minutes on the second quarter clock.

In a similar fashion to their initial drive, the Tinora offense would drive 55 yards, hitting pay dirt again on an Owen Ferrell to Dylan Schaufele touchdown. Schaufele was able to keep his feet inbounds on the eight-yard score on a circus catch, which gave the Rams a 13-6 lead. Bishops’ XP conversion put Tinora on top 14-6 with just 46 seconds on the first-half clock.

The Tinora defense stopped the Panthers’ drive right before the half, and they took a 14-6 lead to the locker room.

The third quarter saw the Panthers close the gap to 14-12 with 2:59 on the clock. Colten Hunt hit Blake Rhonehouse on a 67-yard strike. Rhonehouse made a great move after the catch and took it in for the score. The Panthers again went for the two-point conversion, and for the second time, the Tinora defense came up with a stop.

The Tinora offense drove deep into Paulding territory as the third quarter came to an end. The Rams would have first and goal as Trenton Delarber hauled in a Ferrell pass for 35 yards to set up the first and goal from the Paulding nine as the quarter wound down.

The fourth quarter saw both teams’ intensity on the rise, as they knew what was at stake. The Rams were still holding on to a 14-12 lead.

The Panthers forced a Tinora field goal attempt just a few seconds into the fourth. A low snap resulted in an incomplete pass, and the Panthers took over at their own five-yard line with 11:17 remaining in the contest.

Paulding would mound a drive, taking the ball to the Tinora 24 before they faced a fourth and ten with 6:07 on the clock. After a Panthers timeout, Colten Hunt hit Jordan Manz for a first down at the Tinora 14-yard line. On the ensuing snap, Hunt would it Manz with a 14-yard fade for a touchdown with 5:50 in the fourth quarter. Again, the two-point conversion was no good; Paulding took their first contest lead, 18-14.

Tinora recovered a line drive kickoff by the Panthers at the 50. The Rams needed to drive 50 yards for the go-ahead score. An errant snap on first down pushed the Rams way back to their 38-yard line, resulting in a second and 27 with 5:20 remaining. After a second-down incompletion, facing a third and long play, the Panther’s defense was whistled for a roughing the passer penalty, resulting in a Tinora first down, putting the ball back at their 48-yard line.

Facing a second and ten from their 48, Ferrell hit Schaufele for their third touchdown of the game, this one from 52 yards out. The Bishop XP put the Rams on top 21-18 with 4:29 remaining in the final stanza.

The Panthers had just over four minutes to answer the Tinora score; Paulding came into the game with the second-highest-scoring offense in the GMC at 34 PPG.

The Panthers offense would drive to the Tinora 41-yard line with just under two minutes remaining. Facing a fourth and three, Panthers QB Colten Hunt would hit WR Jordan Manz for a first down. However, Tinora’s Trenton Delarber would come in and knock the ball out of Manz’s hands, resulting in a turnover on downs as the Tinora defense came up with the stop of the game.

Tinora took over at their own 41. Paulding, however, still had two timeouts remaining. The Rams’ Cooper Replogle would rip off a 15-yard run for a first down. The Panthers would burn their second timeout with 1:13 remaining.

Tinora QB Owen Ferrell would take three straight knees, with Paulding only able to stop the clock once; the Cardiac Rams were able to burn off the remaining 1:08 and escape with a 21-18 victory.

The win ensured Tinora would at least clinch a tie for the Green Meadows Conference title.

Tinora ran 61 plays for 290 total yards, 293 passing and -3 rushing.
Paulding ran 65 plays for 300 total yards, 254 passing yards and 46 rushing yards.

TINORA 7-7-0-7= 21
PAULDING 6-0-6-6=18

Tinora passing: O Ferrrell 25-33-286-0-3 TD, Bishop 1-1-7 yds, Graziani 0-1.
Tinora receiving: Schaufele 7-125-3 TD, Delarber 6-83, Lieb 5-39, Bishop 4-23, Graziani 3-16, Schaublin 1-7.
Tinora rushing: Replogle 11-43, Graziani 3-8, Bishop 1-6, Ferrell 11 (-60)

Paulding passing: Hunt 24-49-254-0-3 TD
Paulding receiving: Jalen Manz 5-46, B Rhonehouse 4-92-1 TD, Jordan Manz 12-88-2 TD, Jones 2-25, Cooper 1-3
Paulding rushing: Cooper 9-54, Jalen Manz 3 (-2), Jones 1 (-1), Hunt 3 (-7)

Tinora improves to 6-3, 6-0 in the GMC. The Rams close out the season at home Friday vs Edgerton on Senior Night.

Paulding falls to 6-3, 3-3 in conference play.

The Higbea Embroidery Player of the Game went to Dylan Schaufele; what a game by Dylan.

The Patriot Outdoor Hunting Play of the Game went to Trenton Delarber for his fourth-down stop late.

A special thanks to Paulding athletic Director Tyler Arrend for a fantastic job!!!