Gary Ayers
Some people believe Friday the 13th is bad luck. Swain High football fans are probably among them, as a fumbled snap on the games' very first play from scrimmage led to an early 7-0 lead for Tuscola.
The nightmare continued as Swain fumbled two more snaps, leading to a 21-0 Tuscola lead early in the second quarter as the Mountaineers never looked back en route to a 42-8 win.
The game plan for the Maroon Devils was to control the clock, with the running game and keeping the ball away from the Tuscola passing game, which could score quickly. Swain’s rushing attack only produced 65 yards on 31 carries while Tuscola hit 12 of 17 passes for 177 yards and 3 touchdowns.
After a good opening kickoff return by Corey Stillwell, Swain took over at the 30-yard line with Owen Medlin as the starting quarterback, but a fumbled snap on the first play was recovered by Tuscola's Bryce Causby.
Five plays later, Bridger Jones scored for the Mountaineers on a nine-yard run and kicker Chris Wells kicked his first PAT for a 7-0 lead.
Swain took over at the 20-yard line after a Wells touchback on the kickoff, and Zeke Glaspie picked up one yard on first down before Medlin was stopped for a two-yard loss on second down.
A Swain holding penalty moved the ball back to the nine-yard line. A Tuscola offside penalty put Swain at the 14-yard line as Jon Stephenson replaced Medlin at quarterback and passed incomplete to Grady Lewis.
Brendan Lanning kicked the first of his three punts as Tuscola took over at their 48-yard line on a Bo West fair catch. Isaiah Hyatt picked up four yards on first down before the Swain defense got a solid stop on a tackle by Noah Lossiah and a pass break-up by Cameron George, forcing Tuscola to punt.
Wells' punt pinned Swain at their own six-yard line, but after Grady Lewis carried twice for 5 yards, another fumbled snap recovered by Bryson Haynes gave Tuscola the ball at the Swain 12-yard line.
Quarterback Jett Bartley hit West with an eight-yard pass as James Arch made a touchdown-saving tackle at the one-yard line. But Cooper Williamson scored on the next play and a Wells PAT gave Tuscola a 14-0 lead.
Following another kickoff for a touchback by Wells, two consecutive Swain false start penalties again had the Devils pinned at their own 10-yard line. Three plays later another fumbled snap recovered by Walker Bolden
gave Tuscola the ball at the Swain 13-yard line. After a quarter-ending time-out, Tuscola's Jones scored on a 9-yard touchdown run on the first play of the second quarter. The Wells PAT put the Mountaineers up 21-0.
The Maroon Devil offense was really struggling as the first 10 plays netted six yards with three fumbles.
Poor field position continued to plague Swain as Wells kickoff pinned Swain at the 14-yard line. Stephenson came out in the shotgun and hit two consecutive short passes to Arch and Stillwell before a Lanning punt gave Tuscola the ball at their 44-yard line on a West fair catch.
Following a sack by Lewis, Bartley passed for a first down to Jones. That combination, Bartley to Jones, hurt Swain all night as the next play after a Nse Uffort tackle for a loss resulted in an 18-yard touchdown from Bartley to Jones.
Wells again hit the PAT for a 28-0 lead. A Wells kickoff was returned by Stillwell to the 30-yard line. Three running plays by the Devils resulted in zero yards and Lanning and Tuscola took over at their own 33-yard line. Bartley led the Mountaineers on a seven-play, 67-yard drive highlighted by a 14-yard pass to West, a 26-yard pass to Sam Decker, and the Bartley to Jones combination struck again for a 25-yard touchdown
pass. Wells hit the PAT for a Tuscloa 35-0 lead.
Swain's next series saw Elijah Pruitt intercept a Stephenson pass for the fourth turnover in the first half. Bartley hit a knee for Tuscola to end what was a rough first half for the Maroon Devils, especially for the offense which produced zero first downs.
The third quarter got underway with Tuscola returning Lanning's kickoff to their 39-yard line. After a Swain pass-interference penalty, Bartley's pass was intercepted by Stillwell at the Swain 22-yard line and a great return put the Maroon Devils in good field position at the 50-yard line.
The Maroon Devils started moving the ball aided by a Tuscola 15-yard penalty for blocking in the back followed by Lewis gains of seven yards on two carries and Rocky Barker gained two yards. But Swain was stopped on fourth down as Lewis was stopped for no gain at the Tuscola 22-yard line and the Mountaineers got the ball back. The penalty flags kept flying against Tuscola on the next series as false start and chop block penalties cost Tuscola 20 yards and Wells punted the ball back to Swain. The turnover bug bit Swain again as Glaspie fumbled and Walker Bolden recovered for Tuscola.
Two plays later, Bartley hit West with a 30-yard touchdown pass followed a Wells PAT for a 42-0 lead.
Wells kicked another touchback and Swain took over at the 20-yard line for what proved to be their best offensive drive of the night. Lewis carried the ball five straight times for 16 yards, Mason Cochran rushed for six yards, Lanning carried for five yards on a fake punt play, Lewis rushed for three more yards, Medlin came back in the game and ran for 22 yards as the Swain running game continued to get positive yardage. Following a Tuscola pass interference penalty, Stephenson hit Cochran with a 15-yard touchdown pass. Stephenson then hit Stillwell for the two-point conversion for 42-8 score.
Lanning came up with another surprise play by recovering his own on-side kick at the Tuscola 49-yard line. Swain started moving again as Stephenson hit Glaspie for a 14-yard pass play.
Following a Tuscola time-out, the final play of the game resulted in Elijah Pruitt intercepting Stephenson's pass at the 35-yard line.
It was a long night for the Maroon Devils with six total turnovers, four lost fumbles and two interceptions while the Mountaineers only had one turnover on an interception.
Bartley to Jones resulted in five catches and two touchdowns for the duo for 75 yards total. Uffort and Lewis led the Swain defense with six and five tackles, respectively.
Next up, a much-needed week off for the Maroon Devils to allow for some injuries to heal and look ahead to conference play.
Before SMC play, Swain will host Madison Friday, Sept. 27 for homecoming before traveling to Andrews Oct. 4 to kick-off five straight conference games.