Tabor runs over Ottawa, 27-14

ORIGINALLY WRITTEN ANDREW OTTOSON
Playing on a spotless autumn Saturday afternoon, the Tabor Bluejays beat the Ottawa Braves 27-14, seemingly without breaking a sweat.

In front of a crowd honoring its seniors at the season’s final home game, the Tabor veterans showcased their all their talents.

Senior quarterbacks Ricky Ishida and Ben Schmidt took the field as part of special teams units, and Ishida brought down the Braves’ returner on the opening kickoff.

The first of the home team’s four scores came as Nate Owens ran down an 18-yard toss from DeJaun Jones on Tabor’s second play from scrimmage.

Seven minutes later, Jones connected with Caleb Marsh for 47 yards and a score.

Marsh and Jones linked up again 30 seconds into the second quarter to put the Bluejays up by three touchdowns.

Derik Martinez connected on two of three extra point tries–the third was blocked – and the Bluejays led 20-0.

Ottawa, struggling to gain yards on the ground, resorted throwing on nearly every down.

The tactic helped the Braves rally for a score with 9:03 in the half when Neil Moore found Jacob Pillion for a 25 yard touchdown.

Andy Bartell made Ottawa pay for their unbalanced attack by intercepting Moore and returning the pick for a touchdown to put TC ahead 27-7.

Tabor’s seniors along the offensive and defensive lines dominated the game as the Bluejays held the Braves to 4 total yards though the first half.

Ottawa gained147 passing yards from Greg Guzman and 40 passing yards from Moore but managed 138 total yards for the game on account of -49 rushing yards.

Behind by 13 and with little to play for, Ottawa found a spark by running a no-huddle hurry-up offense against’s Tabor’s second-string defense but still fell far short of catching the Bluejays.

All of Guzman’s yardage came in the second half as Ottawa all but shelved its running game. With a carry from a yard out, Vashon Perryman finished off a third quarter drive that included a pair of long completions from Guzman to Pillion.

The Tabor defense added 7 sacks to 12 tackles for loss in stopping the Braves. With four plays in the Ottawa backfield, Tabor linebacker Christian Jones accounted for -42 yards of Ottawa offense.

But even in light of everything the defense did, the Tabor offense stole the show. For the third consecutive week, the offense moved efficiently through the air and gained in excess of 200 yards on the ground.

Ten different runners carried the ball for the Bluejays, and Jones averaged 9.3 yards per carry while running the option offense, and the team totaled 340 yards for the game.

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