As the old saying goes, close only counts in horse shoes and grenades.
But second-year Newton football coach Zach Grady will tell you that the Tigers are getting close.
The Tigers lost a 27-20 heartbreaker to St. Andrew’s in double overtime on Friday night at E.L. Morgan Field.
With the loss, the Tigers fall to 0-2 on the season while St. Andrew’s improves to 1-1.
For the second straight week, the Tigers fell behind early.
“We had another close one,” Grady said. “We had opportunities, we just have to finish and figure out how to pull one out. We did everything but win. We started slow, and they jumped out on us. They were up 13-0 in the first quarter but our guys never quit. They kept on fighting and had chances to win in the fourth quarter. We’ve just got to make some plays when we get the opportunity.”
St. Andrew’s took the early lead as they went 45 yards in five plays and scored on a 3-yard run with 7:11 left in the first period. The PAT was blocked and the Saints led 6-0.
The Tigers then returned the ensuing kick back for a touchdown but it was called back on a penalty and Newton was eventually forced to punt.
St. Andrews took advantage of another short field and went 52 yards in three plays as the Saints scored on a 33-yard field goal with 2:30 left in the first quarter.
“We had our chances and showed a lot of improvement,” Grady said. “If we can continue to improve and cut out the mistakes, we will be OK. On a positive note, we didn’t have any false starts on offense and I thought we tackled a lot better in space. The things we worked on in practice we got a lot better at. We just have to continue to improve and make the plays when we get the opportunity.”
The Tigers finally hit paydirt midway through the second quarter when Tyreke Snow hit Tyshun Evans on a 14-yard touchdown pass. Snow ran in the two-point conversion to cut the lead to 13-8, a score that stood until halftime.
The defenses settled in during the third quarter and it wasn’t until Snow hit Rayvion Nettles on a 55-yard touchdown pass with 10:23 left in the fourth until things got interesting. The try for two failed and Newton led 14-13.
St. Andrew’s took the lead back with 2:38 left in the game as the Saints went on a nine-play, 51-yard drive, scoring on a 9-yard run. The PAT was good and St. Andrews led 20-14.
But Newton answered right back as Snow hit back-to-back big playas and scored on a 17-yard run with 1:32 left in the game. The two-point conversion attempt failed to leave the score tied at 20-20.
Newton got the ball first in overtime and failed to score but blocked the St. Andrew’s field goal to force a second OT. The Saints got the ball first in the second overtime period and scored on a 5-yard run and booted the PAT to lead 27-20.
Newton had four shots from the 10 in the final overtime period and actually scored once but that was called back on a motion penalty. The Saints then stopped Newton short to preserve the win.
Snow was 13-of-24 passing for 290 yards and a TD. Nettles had three catches for 116 yards and a TD while Kezerrian Wash had two catches for 39 yards.
On defense, Kasey Watts had 14 tackles and forced a fumble while JaMarkus Pruitt had 11 tackles including six for a loss with a fumble recovery. Desmond Moore had 10 tackles while Anthony Smith had nine tackles. Derrek Alford also had nine tackles, including three for a loss. Jamarveous Reed had seven tackles while Demarrio Robinson had six tackles, including four for a loss.
