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Chieftains drop Chargers in double overtime

By Benton Smith - | Oct 3, 2008

? A week after being held out of action due to a ding to his noggin, Jeremy Carlisle dove head-first back into action for Tonganoxie High at Santa Fe Trail on Friday night.

The Chieftains’ sophomore running back and safety did so literally in the second overtime of the Kaw Valley League clash, sweeping to the right and going airborne into the end zone to score what proved to be the game-winning touchdown for THS in a 28-21 thriller.

The victory wasn’t certain until Carlisle picked off a Phoenix Anshutz pass on the second play of the Chargers’ possession in the second overtime, spoiling Santa Fe Trail’s homecoming game. When he secured the game-clinching interception, the THS sideline — including coach Mark Elston, who gave a Tiger-Woodsesque fist pump — went wild as Tonganoxie picked up its first KVL win of the season.

“It’s awesome,” Elston said. “We had our chances to put them away and, being a young team, we thought we had it there in the first quarter, and, obviously, teams aren’t going to give up.”

Indeed, the Chieftains (4-1, 1-1) looked to be on their way to routing SFTHS (0-5, 0-3) in the first quarter after Carlisle scored on a 6-yard run for his first of three touchdowns on the night and the quarter ended with THS senior quarterback Zack Robinson hitting D.J. Lindsay in stride down the right sideline for a 65-yard touchdown pass.

Unfazed, the Chargers scored 21 unanswered to take the lead. Anshutz found Jesse Bahner for a 22-yard score in the second quarter and Chase McIver and Caleb Cook each had a rushing touchdown in the third.

Said Chargers coach Lucas Boss: “These kids, the way they go at it is the way I want this program to be. We’ve just got to transform it into wins on a Friday night.”

Tonganoxie trailed for all of 14 seconds though because following Cook’s score, Carlisle returned the Chargers’ kickoff 83 yards. Following a Robinson extra point, the game was tied at 21.

Both teams were unable to score in the fourth quarter, but THS looked to be in real trouble when it was forced to punt with just more than two minutes remaining in regulation. The Chargers had their way with THS most of the second half, thanks in large part to Cook, who rushed for 132 yards in the second half alone and finished the game with 150 on the ground. Cook was back to return Robinson’s line-drive punt, but muffed it, making his only mistake on an otherwise spectacular night. Jeremie Maus recovered the ball with 2:14 to go in the fourth quarter, taking away the Chargers’ chance at a game-ending scoring drive.

HOW THEY SCORED

THS 14 0 7 0 0 7 — 28

SFT 0 7 14 0 0 0 — 21

FIRST QUARTER

(4:18) Jeremy Carlisle, THS, 6 run. Zack Robinson kick. (Tonganoxie 7, Santa Fe Trail 0).

(:00) D.J. Lindsay, THS, 65 pass from Robinson. Robinson kick. (Tonganoxie 14, Santa Fe Trail 0).

SECOND QUARTER

(4:08) Jesse Bahner, SFT, 22 pass from Phoenix Anshutz. Chase McIver kick. (Tonganoxie 14, Santa Fe Trail 7).

THIRD QUARTER

(9:23) McIver, SFT, nine run. McIver kick wide left. (Tonganoxie 14, Santa Fe Trail 13).

(4:05) Caleb Cook, SFT, four run. Joey Elliott pass from Anshutz. (Santa Fe Trail 21, Tonganoxie 14).

(3:51) Carlisle, THS, 83 kickoff return. Robinson kick. (Tonganoxie 21, Santa Fe Trail 21).

SECOND OVERTIME

Carlisle, THS, six run. Robinson kick. (Tonganoxie 28, Santa Fe Trail 21).