CLARKSBURG – The Mt. Lions traveled to Notre Dame for the last game of the regular season on Friday November 2nd. Tucker County got down 14-0 and the Mt. Lions could not complete the comeback as they fell in the contest by the final score of 28-20.
The Irish moved the ball down inside the Tucker County 5 yard line, but a Notre Dame penalty caused the drive to stall after a failed fourth down play. The Mt. Lions first possession showed some promise as Tucker County drove the ball deep inside Irish territory, but an unsuccessful fourth down play gave the ball back to Notre Dame. The first quarter would end with the score remaining 0-0. Tucker County would drive the ball inside the Notre Dame 10 yard line again, but the Mt. Lions again could not get into the end zone. Then with 2:33 left in the second quarter the home standing Irish would score on a 33 yard touchdown pass on a 4th and 16. The PAT failed to make the score 6-0 Notre Dame. The halftime score would show the home team Notre Dame with the lead 6-0.
In the third quarter Tucker County drove the ball down to the 21 yard line of Notre Dame, but the Mt. Lions failed to convert a 4th and 3 play to give the Irish the ball and end the Tucker County drive. Notre Dame then put together a scoring drive that was capped off on a 30 yard touchdown run. The 2 point conversion pass play was good to push the Irish lead to 14-0. The Mt. Lions would then move the ball down the field with 3 pass receptions by Ben Callaway. Liam Hood then scored on a 1 yard touchdown run and Ben Callaway made the PAT kick to cut the Notre Dame lead to 14-7. Tucker County forced a 3 and out on the Notre Dame possession to give the Mt. Lions back the ball. The Tucker County offense then went to work and the Mt. Lions scored on a 9 yard touchdown run by Cole Rapp. The 6 play drive would tie the contest 14-14 after the PAT kick from Callaway.
Notre Dame answered in the fourth quarter with a scoring drive that was capped off on a 3 yard touchdown pass and the 2 point conversion was good to make the score 22-14 Notre Dame with 6:37 left in the contest. The Mt. Lions answered back quickly on a 63 yard touchdown pass from Hood to Ben Cromer. The 2 point conversion by Tucker County failed to tie the score to make the score 22-20 Notre Dame. The two teams traded possessions with time running out in the fourth. Notre Dame then got a score with under 2 minutes remaining on a 5 yard touchdown run to push the Irish lead to 28-20. Tucker County moved the ball into Notre Dame territory late in the contest, but Hood was sacked two times to prevent the Mt. Lions comeback. Notre Dame would win the contest by the final score of 28-20.
Liam Hood led Tucker County with 10 of 25 passing for 196 yards and Ben Cromer had 2 receptions for 97 yards receiving. Hunter Collar added 81 yards rushing on 10 carries. Tucker County ended the contest with 196 yards passing and 139 yards rushing. Cole Rapp and Bode Shockley collected 10 tackles each on defense for Tucker County and Ben Callaway added 6 tackles and a fumble recovery.
Tucker County(6-4) qualified for the State Playoffs for the first time since 2013 and earned a #15 seed. The Mt. Lions will travel to #2 Midland Trail on Friday November 9th for first round playoff action. The game is scheduled to kickoff at 7:30pm. For more Tucker County Sports info visit TuckerCountySports.Com
