South football: Bryce Figler's late stop preserves Rebels' win
Aug. 27—Three feet stood between the South football team and an 0-2 start.
Senior Bryce Figler wasn't going to give an inch.
With Twinsburg going for a two-point conversion with less than a minute to play, Figler made a tackle just short of the goal line to give South a 35-34 win over the host Tigers. The win improves South's record to 1-1, with a potential Week 3 shootout at Maple Heights coming up.
"It's huge," Figler said of the win. "It shows our passion for the game. We're going to keep fighting. We're not going to give up if the other team makes a play. We're going to keep fighting."
South seemed to have a game-clincher when Delond Moss scored with 90 seconds remaining in the game for a 35-28 lead. But Twinsburg scored quickly and went for the win with the potential 2-point conversion.
"They threw the ball to the flat and Figler came up from the corner and hammered him at the 1 — kept him out," Coach Matt Duffy said.
All in a day's work, Figler said.
"I was in the right position to make a play," he said. "I HAD to make that play."
The win helps wash the sour taste of a 35-21 season-opening loss to NDCL out of the Rebels' mouth. The going doesn't get any easier, so the win was a biggie.
"We had a great week of practice and the kids really improved," Duffy said. "We're getting there. We didn't get out of the gate the way we hoped (against NDCL), but we're getting there."
