On Friday night, the Tinora Rams found the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow as Owen Ferrell hit Dominic Graziani with a seven-yard touchdown pass with .38 seconds left in the game.

Ferrell, the sophomore making his second career start, hit Graziani for a fourth-and-goal TD that tied the game at 34-34. Jacob Bishop’s XP gave Tinora a 35-34 lead, capping an incredible comeback by Tinora, which trailed at the half 28-7 over the high-powered Fairview Apaches.

With just a single timeout remaining, Fairview mounted a drive, getting to the Tinora 44 with just .05 seconds remaining. The Apaches’ William Zeedyk, who threw for over 500 yards in the contest, saw his desperation pass intercepted by Tinora’s Josh Lieb at the Rams 10-yard line as time expired, clinching the Tinora thrilling come-from-behind win, 35-34.

A pregame thunderstorm may have delayed the arrival of the Rams faithful on Bitty Cheer night at Justin F. Coressel Stadium on what turned out to be a beautiful Friday night of football for the packed house.

Fairview got things rolling late in the first quarter as junior signal caller William Zeedyk hit Logan Olinger for a 15-yard touchdown. The Landric VanderMade XP gave the Apaches an early 7-0 advantage over Tinora with 3:04 remaining in the first stanza.

The Apaches struck again to start the second quarter. Zeekyke hit Gavin Garza for a 49-yard score. The XP put Fairview on top 14-0 with 11:22 remaining in the half.

After a stop on defense, Fairview and Zeedyke were right back at it, as Zeedyke hit Brody Williams with a 36-yard TD; the XP would give the Apaches a 21-0 lead with 9:04 left in the first half.

The Rams finally hit pay dirt at 7:01 in the second quarter. Owen Ferrell scrambled to hit Josh Lieb with a short pass, and Leib zig-zagged through the Apaches’ defense, scoring from 44 yards out. The Jacob Bishop XP cut the Fairview lead to 21-7.

The Fairview offense, seemingly unstoppable in the first half, would again strike big. This time, Zeedyke hit Williams with his second TD catch of the game, this one from five yards out; the XP was good by VanderMade with 5:03 in the half, and the score put the Apaches on top 28-7.

Fairview took the 28-7 lead to the locker room. In the first half, Fairview’s Zeedyke and his Apache Teamates lit up the Tinora defense for 381 yards, completing 12-17 for 384 yards.
The Tinora defense did stop the Apache rushing attack in the first two quarters, as Fairview carried the ball 11 times for -3 yards.

Tinora gained 165 total yards in the first 30 minutes.

As the night fell, the Tinora offense faced an uphill battle as the second half began.

After a Dylan Schaufele interception deep in Apache territory, Tinora’s Cooper Replogle would smash it in from four yards out, with some help from the Rams offensive line. The Bishop XP cut the Fairview lead to 28-14 with 7:40 remaining in the third quarter.

After a Tinora defensive stop, the Rams offense was again at it. Deon Luellen took it in from three yards out. The Luellen TD cut the Fairview lead to 28-20. Bishop supplied the XP, and the Apache lead was 28-21.

Fairview started the fourth quarter with another long TD, this one from 34 yards away, as Zeedyke threw his fifth TD of the game. This one went to Brody Williams, his second of the contest. The quick strike gave the Apaches a 34-21 lead with 11:43 left in the contest. VanderMade’s XP was missed.

With 4:33 remaining, the Apaches may have been at the turning point of the game. They lined up to punt from inside their own 30-yard line. Tinora’s Alex Homier burst through the line, blocking the punt off the foot of Jonathon Huffman. Homier scooped the ball up and rambled inside the Fairview 20-yard line.

The Rams’ Cooper Replogle scored his second TD of the game, cutting Fairview’s lead to 34-27. The Bishop XP was successful, and Tinora trailed 34-28 with 3:06 remaining in the fourth.

Fairview, struggling to run the ball all game, now finds itself trying to run out the remaining fourth-quarter clock, which shows 3:06.

After a short completion to Huffman, Zeedyke’s subsequent two passes were incomplete, forcing a Fairview punt with 2:23 on the game clock.

This time, the Apaches and Huffman were able to get the punt off. After a 7-yard return by Dominic Graziani, the Rams started their drive at the Apaches’ 41-yard line, trailing 34-28 with all three timeouts remaining.

Ferrell would hit Trenton Delarber with a 16-yard reception first down catch, getting the ball to the Fairview 25 with just under two minutes on the clock. Ferrell would follow with a crossing pattern throw and catch to Josh Lieb, setting the Tinora offense up with a first and goal from the Apache eight-yard line with 1:35 remaining.

After a Tinora holding penalty pushed the ball back to the 16-yard line, Ferrell took off for a second-down run for just three yards. The Tinora offense was faced with a third-and-goal from the 13-yard line with just 56 seconds left. Cooper Replogle’s third-down carry for six yards got the ball down to the Apache seven with 49 seconds on the game clock.

After a few minutes of delay due to clock issues and a couple of team timeouts, the Rams lined up for the fourth-and-goal play, which saw Ferrell hit Graziani with the TD pass, tying the game at 34-34. Bishop’s XP was the deciding point in the Tinora win.

Fairview outgained Tinora 500-293 in total yardage. The Apaches threw for 518 yards but ended up with -18 yards on the ground.

FAIRVIEW 7-21-6-0=34
TINORA 0-7-14-14=35

Fairview passing: Zeedyke 23-42 518-1-5 TD
Fairview rushing: Zeedyke 14 – -29, Garza 7-11
Fairview receiving: Olinger 6-98-1 TD, Garza 4-80-1 TD, Williams 6-118-3 TD, Coolman 1-74, Meade 3-24, Huffman 3-124

Tinora passing: Ferrell: 22-33-216-0-2
Tinora rushing: Graziani 11-48, Replogle 7-23-2 TD, Louellen 3-5-1 TD, O Ferrell 10-1
Tinora receiving: Schaufele 5-84, Lieb 4-75-1 TD, Graziani 6-24-1 TD, Delarber 3-17, Bishop 3-9, Replogle 1-7.


Fairview drops to 3-2, 1-1 in the GMC. The Apaches will host Paulding in another big GMC game Friday.

Tinora Improves to 2-3, 2-0 in the GMC. The Rams will host Antwerp next Friday.

The Higbea Embroidery Player of the game went to Tinora’s Owen Ferrell, congratulations!

The Patriot Outdoor Hunting Play of the Game went to Alex Homier for his block punt in the 4th quarter.