A tale of two halves …
Tigers struggle against Sherman after halftime

By STEVE SNYDER
News Editor

The Lancaster Tigers had bright spots on both sides of the ball again the Sherman Bearcats, but were unable to connect the dots in a 28-7 loss.

The Bearcats stunned the Tigers by scoring on the first play from scrimmage with a 64-yard Patrick Hagan run.  The Bearcats, running a spread offense with an empty backfield, appeared to catch the Tigers totally by surprise, as Hagan ran untouched to the end zone.

The Tigers got the ball on the kickoff and picked up one first down before having to punt the ball. The Bearcats then started marching the ball forward again.  They picked up a couple of first downs and appeared to be on the way to another score before fumbling the ball over to the Tigers.

The Tigers didn’t let the stunning early score get them down for too long. Lancaster took advantage of the reprieve.  Quarterback A.D. Matthews and tailback Kenric Gilbert led the team on a nine-play drive 62 yards to paydirt. Gilbert ran the ball in nine yards for the tying touchdown.

After knotting the score the Tigers settled down on defense for the rest of the first half. The Bearcats did have one longer drive shortly before halftime, but fumbled the ball away, with Ryan Jackson recovering.

The Tigers went to a little trickery to start the second half.  Stymied on their opening drive, they called a fake punt Matthews, playing the short man in the punt backfield, took the snap and ran right, then optioned to punter Joseph Thomas.  Thomas picked up the first down and the Tigers looked like they might be starting a drive.

But Matthews was intercepted just a couple of plays later.  This time, the Bearcats would capitalize on the turnover.  They drove 57 yards for the go-ahead touchdown, scoring midway through the quarter.

The Tigers then had a three-and-one drive. And the Bearcats capitalized again.  Sherman drove 58 yards to the end zone, scoring just before the end of the quarter.

In the fourth quarter, the Tigers strung together a drive for a few plays, but eventually turned the ball over on downs.  The Bearcats marched down the field again, but stopped themselves, missing a field goal from 36 yards out.

The Tigers were still game, refusing to give up.  But Matthews was knocked out of the game on the next drive, crimping Tiger comeback efforts.

A lost fumble put another damper in the effort. Sherman turned this one into a touchdown to wrap up scoring for the night.

Coach Andrew Jackson noted the game was different in the second half.

“It was a tough loss. We sputtered on offense,” he said.  “We played the second half on our side of the field and that affected play-calling.

“We’re going to keep working to get better. I’m not used to this — I’ve never been 0-3.  I want to get that monkey off my back.”

Jackson said Matthews’ injury was not serious.

In other action, the Tiger junior varsity lost to Sherman 36-12 and the freshman lost by a 48-39 count.