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High school football: Tartan’s defense keys 10-8 victory over Two Rivers

jace frederick, pioneer press
·4 min read

Tartan’s defense let the Titans down on numerous occasions in 2021. The Titans surrendered 33 points a game, allowing 27-plus points in nine of the team’s 11 contests last fall.

That unit, Tartan coach Matt Diediker noted, started a number of juniors last season. Now it’s “senior dominated,” and certainly led the way Friday.

The season opener was perhaps the start of a very different story for that unit. Not only was the defense not a liability, but it was the reason for Tartan’s 10-8 home victory over Two Rivers — perhaps an indicator of what’s to come this season.

“It’s definitely something we’re going to hang our hat on,” Diediker said. “Much improved, and I was very pleased with that, now we just have to get the other side of the scoreboard going.”

The defense scored as many points (six) as it surrendered Friday, and saved the game on more occasions than can be accounted. It was responsible for the game’s first score, with Titans senior Caleb Ciccone jumping a curl route for an interception he returned 46 yards for a score midway through the first frame to put Tartan up 7-0.

That’s where the score stood until Tartan’s most effective drive of the game — a 9-play, 72-yard series — resulted in a 22-yard field goal by Aiden Burback with 30 seconds to play in the first half. The Titans’ offense struggled to muster much else, but that ounce of production was just enough for Tartan’s defense to protect.

Two Rivers’ first score came on a safety, which stemmed from a bad snap on a Tartan punt. The ensuing post-safety punt left Two Rivers (0-1) with good field position, but Tartan’s defense responded with a stop. The defense bailed the Titans (1-0) out on a number of occasions Friday after the offense would turn the ball over or turn possession over on downs. The defense answered the call to the very end.

“We just kept each other’s heads up. Everytime somebody made a bad play, we were like, ‘Hey, keep your head up and keep going.’ Because you’re going to make mistakes in a game, but one play don’t make the whole game,” said Tartan defensive lineman Allen Pearson, who led the team with 6.5 tackles. “Mentally, it’s tough. Physically, it’s even tougher. The whole team was out cramping (down the stretch). My calves were both cramping, the guards, their calves were cramping up, but it’s a mindset in the fourth quarter. When it’s close in the fourth quarter, you’ve got to want it after that. It’s not about muscle or anything, you’ve just got to want to go out and win.”

Two Rivers finally made Tartan pay for a mistake — a late third quarter interception reeled in by the Warriors’ Jonny Youness — with an impressive drive that ended in the Warriors’ lone touchdown, a 4-yard scoring strike from Nate Schaffer to Ramzi Rislove that cut the deficit to 10-8. But Two Rivers was called for a false start ahead of its two-point try, and missed the conversion attempt from seven yards out on an incomplete pass.

But the Warriors — seeking their first win since 2020 — couldn’t quite get over the hump, despite their defense’s best efforts. Diediker noted Tartan was down four starting offensive linemen Friday, which made stopping Two Rivers’ monster junior defensive lineman Maxwell Mogelson a near impossible task.

Finally, on the game’s final drive, Tartan found some traction. Maurice White put the game on ice for Tartan with a couple impressive runs on the game’s final drive to milk out the clock, pushing his rushing tally to 84 yards. It was the second straight year Tartan survived Two Rivers in a thriller in the season opener. In 2021, the Titans went on to lose their next seven games.

Tartan is eager to prevent history from repeating.

“We didn’t really learn from it, and that’s why we kind of got on that slide. We didn’t quite figure things out until we got to sections,” Diediker said. “Hopefully, these seniors figure it out.”

Two Rivers coach Tom Orth hopes for something similar from his crew, which put forth an effort he admired Friday.

“You learn a lot, right? Now the key is, how much do you improve from this week to the next?” he said. “I’m excited to get back to work. We love the guys we’ve got, and we’ll keep getting better.”

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