ORIGINALLY WRITTEN DON RATZLAFF
For most of the first half, it appeared Tabor’s Cinderella story would continue into its second game, but the fairy tale turned suddenly into a nightmare as the Friends Falcons scored 29 unanswered points in the last six minutes of the second quarter and went on to beat the Bluejays 58-29 Saturday afternoon at Reimer Field.
The Bluejays looked like a contender for most of the first half. Friends scored first, but Tabor pulled back to within one, 7-6, on a 55-yard touchdown pass from Travis Davis to Tyson Ratzlaff with 1:22 left in the first quarter.
Tabor took its first lead 9-6 on a field goal with 7:11 left in the second quarter, then extended the lead to 15-7 on a five-yard touchdown run from Harvey Scruggs with 5:59 left before intermission.
Then the Bluejays stepped into the Twilight Zone. On the ensuing kickoff, the Falcon returner ran the ball all the way down to the Tabor 4-yard line. The Falcons scored a touchdown and a 2-point conversion to tie the game at 15. A series of Bluejay mental and physical mistakes over the next five minutes resulted in three more Falcon touchdowns and suddenly Tabor trailed, 36-15, going into intermission.
Inthe third quarter, Friends scored three more touchdowns, aided by more Bluejay mistakes, to take an overwhelming 58-15 lead. To their credit, Tabor refused to throw in the towel, and scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns to close the final gap. Tyler Murphy scored first on a four-yard run, then Keith Herl picked up a blocked Falcon punt and ran it five yards into the end zone for Tabor’s final score.with 3:17 left in the game.
With the loss, the Bluejays fall to 1-3 overall and 1-2 in the KCAC. They play Southwestern for homecoming next Saturday beginning at 2 p.m.
Tabor’s magic runs out against Friends
