Sports

John Glenn Wins Race Over Sheridan

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Walking into McConagha Stadium at Muskingum University, there was a defined split between a sea of maroon and red in the stands. It was clear who the John Glenn fans were and who the Sheridan fans were, but it was not clear who would win the game.

It was expected to be a close match up as John Glenn came in undefeated and Sheridan came in with the title of last year’s Muskingum Valley League Co-Champions.

The game was nothing short of exciting Friday night football with fans on their feet, biting their nails in suspense every minute, until the last minute. The back and forth excitement started as soon as the cleats crossed the white line. Sheridan had first possession of the game, but lost possession when Casey Smith swooped in for the interception. Just two plays later, Nick Ranalli intercepted Justin Heacock’s throw and the Generals once again had possession.

Sheridan running back Jarrett Munyan was unable to be stopped. He scored the General’s only two touchdowns in the first half of the game, but not without the help of the rest of the offense.

Sheridan realized early on that Tabor’s speed running with the football in his hands, would work to its advantage rather than throwing the ball after a few incomplete passes in the beginning of the game.

Tabor was trucking through John Glenn’s defense, recovering from jarring grabs, and breaking out of tough tackles. His aggressive play helped set up Munyan’s first touchdown. Tabor carried the ball for 23 yards and Munyan finished off the last two yards. The duo racked points up again with a similar set up where Tabor sprinted between players from the 44-yard line to the 12-yard line to set up Munyan again a couple plays later on the 1-yard line where Munyan finished it off with the cherry on top into the end zone.

Defensive players Jordan Austin and Jacob Rhodes for Sheridan did not make it easy for the Muskies to come back. Missed opportunities plagued the Muskies and they struggled to get things going in the first quarter after the interception.

However, Casey Smith turned things around for the Muskies completing a 53-yard rush early into the second quarter. From that point on, it was a battle to get into end zone and to John Glenn’s disappointment, Heacock was sacked by Jacob Morgan.

The Muskies then missed the 29-yard field goal attempt and it seemed like Sheridan would have a secure lead at half. However, there was a penalty on the play, allowing John Glenn another chance at half the distance to the goal where Casey Smith capitalized on the redo and caught a seven-yard touchdown pass.

Some points on the board was all it took for John Glenn to make sure the Generals did not stay comfortable. Once they scored, it was back and forth, turning fans’ heads from one end of the field to the other.

With a minute left in the half, it seemed there was no maroon jersey open for Heacock to find, but Gavin Thompson ran out of no where into an open gap in the end zone and Heacock found his hands. But Jacob Morgan, proving Sheridan steps it up under the pressure, made solid contact with Heacock on the next play and sacked him again on the 5-yard line to keep them from tying the game before half. As predicted, both the teams were putting up a good fight.

At the end of the third quarter it was tied 14-14, and the fourth quarter was all about two daring converted-fourth downs for the Muskies and missed extra points for Sheridan.

Hoping to crush John Glenn’s fight to victory, Sheridan scored on the first play of the fourth quarter, but the Muskies answered right back, blocked the extra point and completed a touchdown pass on the fourth down. If you blinked in the last six minutes of the game, you could have missed a game changing play. Action packed plays twisted the end results. Sheridan took a risk during their second touchdown of the fourth quarter and went for the two-point conversion to make up for the blocked extra point, but failed.

A turnover, a sack, and a safety all in just the last three minutes stood in the way of the Muskies taking home the win. After turning the ball over, John Glenn sacked Ethan Heller, forcing a Sheridan safety. Cracking under the pressure, Sheridan, a few plays later, had a pass interference with a minute left that lead to Ben Larson to score the game winning touchdown for the Muskies.

John Glenn won the game 30-26 and improved to 3-0 before traveling to Philo. Sheridan fell to 1-2 and will see an independent Logan squad that won its first game over Meigs.