Tigers nip Beavers

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For the Journal

AMERICAN FALLS -- Bo Duffin and the rest of the Aberdeen Tigers could have packed up their equipment bags midway through the fourth quarter.

Instead, the senior quarterback rallied his teammates and led them down the field for the drive that kept their winning streak against the American Falls Beavers intact.

Miguel Villafana, who kicked a football for the first time when the Tigers opened practice three weeks ago, nailed a 27-yard field goal with 4:58 remaining in the game Friday, lifting the Tigers to a narrow 18-15 victory over their biggest rivals in American Falls.

The kick capped an 11-play, 65-yard drive that featured a 24-yard quarterback sneak from Duffin.

On the Tigers' previous possession, Duffin botched a pitch play, which American Falls' Paden Johnson picked up and returned 64 yards to tie the game at 15-15.

"It was really disappointing," Duffin said of the fumble. "But I just tried to keep my head and focus on the next play. I started focusing on getting that next drive into the end zone."

The Tigers' coaching staff wasn't exactly thrilled after watching their charges fumble three times, commit eight penalties for 58 yards and allow American Falls to covert two fake-punt plays in the first half.

About the only thing they were pleased with was the outcome. As one assistant said after the game, "I'd rather play like that and win than play really well and lose, but that's about all I can say."

Still, head coach Cory Hollingsworth was proud of how his team responded to Johnson's momentum-swinging big play in the final quarter.

"I think that showed the character of our team," he said. "When we had things under control then the fumble happened, we tied it and came right back. A lesser team might have had trouble changing gears and getting that momentum back, but we took it right back from them."

Aberdeen did get on the scoreboard first on Trevor Spence's 11-yard run in the first quarter, but the Beavers answered back with a clock-gobbling drive of their own that took up most of the second quarter.

With 34 seconds remaining on the clock in the first quarter, the Beavers marched down the field, gaining 78 yards on 21 plays and taking 9:11 off the clock before Johnson finally scored on a four-yard run to knot the score at 7-7 at halftime.

Neither team scored in the third, but Aberdeen needed just five seconds to find the end zone in the fourth. Duffin capped a nine-play, 71-yard drive with a one-yard quarterback sneak into the end zone, and on the two-point conversion, Cody Snyder picked up a fumble and sprinted into the end zone to give the Tigers a 15-7 lead.

The non-league win marks Aberdeen's seventh straight in the series, but Hollingsworth knows his team had to fight for it.

"Ever since we started the rivalry back up, there have been a couple of blowouts and a couple of close ones," Hollingsworth said. "We had to earn this one."

Aberdeen 18, American Falls 15

Aberdeen 7 0 0 11 -- 18

American Falls 0 7 0 8 -- 15

Scoring Summary

A -- Trevor Spence 23 run (Miguel Villafana kick), 4:06

AF -- Paden Johnson 4 run (Carlos Medel kick), 3:23

A -- Bo Duffin 1 run (Cody Snyder run), 11:55

AF -- Johnson 64 fumble return (Camilo Carretero run), 9:24

A -- Villafana FG 27, 4:58

Individual Statistics

Rushing: Aberdeen -- Trevor Spence 10-65, Bo Duffin 7-45, Aaron Schritter 5-43, Greg Bartholoma 1-11, Cody Snyder 6-22, Steven Elliott 1-3. American Falls -- Paden Johnson 20-63, Camilo Carretero 12-40, V.J. Giulio 7-12, Derrick Heinson 4-7, Kody Laggis 2-6, Carlos Medel 1-(-23).

Receiving: Aberdeen -- Spence 1-8, Bartholoma 1-5, Schritter 1-10, Elliott 1-15. American Falls -- Tyce Stewart 1-16, Johnson 1-(-4), Nate Villalobos 1-12.

Passing: Aberdeen -- Duffin 4-9-38-0-0. American Falls -- Laggis 2-9-8-1-0, Johnson 1-1-16-0-0.

By Mitch Worthington

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