Fourth-quarter rally lifts Tipp past Alter
TIPP CITY — There was only one present Tippecanoe football coach Matt Burgbacher coveted for his 45th birthday Friday. He got two a vic— tory over Alter and a rematch with Bellbrook.
“A couple days ago my wife (Nicole) asked me what I wanted and I said ‘Honey don’t spend a dime on me, all I want is for those boys to get that W. That will be
the best birthday present I’ve ever had,’” Burgbacher said. “They did it. They delivered.”
Outscoring visiting Alter 10-0 in the fourth quarter, Tippecanoe rallied for a 37-28 win over the Knights in a Division III, Region 12 quarterfi- nal at City Park. It was the first-ever meeting between the playoff regulars.
Tipp (10-2), the No. 7 seed in Region 12, advances to a face No. 3 Bellbrook, a 42-35 winner over Wapakoneta, next Friday at a neutral site that will be announced Sunday by the Ohio High School Athletic Association. Wayne and Northmont are options. Bellbrook beat Tipp 24-14 in Week 1.
Alter, the region’s 15th seed, f i nishes 6-6. The Knights had won four straight after starting 2-5.
“We knew they were a tough football team,” Burg- bacher said. “They came in 6-5 and we knew that didn’t mean squat. We knew what we were going to get tonight. This is a huge win for our program moving forward.”
“It is huge,” Tipp quarterback Liam Poronsky said. “We’ve known for months that this was a team we were going to see in the playoffs.”
Alter led 14-13 at halftime and 28-27 following a third quarter that saw four lead changes in less than four minutes.
Jackson Kleather’s 32-yard field goal with 5:03 left gave Tipp a 30-28 lead and Cayd Everhart’s 31-yard touchdown run with 2:36 to go produced the final margin of victory. Everhart’s scamper came one play after a Jason Rindler interception, the Red Devils’ third of the second half and fourth of the game. Two of the picks came off deflections that hit Alter hands first.
“Those are the kinds of things that haunt you,” Alter head coach Ed Domsitz said. “As well as the offense played, there were some mistakes. You get in a ballgame like this and those can be deadly.”
Tipp’s passing game hurt Alter, too.
Poronsky, who had three touchdown passes in the last four games, threw three against the Knights, including two to Zach Butera covering 40 and 12 yards. His other touchdown toss went 45 yards to Gavin Garlitz.
Everhart had two touch- down runs.
“We struggled covering,” Domsitz said. “They were able to hit the short passes and they burned us on some deep routes.”
“We’ve been pretty effi- cient running the ball, but we felt if they took that away from us that we could throw,” Burgbacher said. “We had some good match ups on the outside. It was one of those things where we were like let’s get into that first series and see what they’re going to do.”
“Just put theball out there and let our guys make plays,” Poronsky said.
Chase Stone had three rushing touchdowns for Alter that covered 65, 45 and 2 yards. Gavin Conno r added a 1-yard sneak.
“We fought back and the kids responded well,” Dom- sitz said. “It just came down to the last quarter and they made the plays.”
The first time Tipp and Bellbrook played, the game was 14-14 after three quar- ters. Getting another shot at the Eagles has been a season-long mission.
“We knew that if we continued to do things right, we’d get another opportu- nity,” Burgbacher said. “I thought that opportunity may have been Week 11 or 12, but I’ll take it in Week 13.”
Said Poronsky: “It’s been a long time coming. Can’t wait.”