Twin Springs rallies for victory over Unaka spoiling Homecoming

Published 12:19 am Saturday, September 11, 2021

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BY ALLEN LAMOUNTAIN
STAR CORRESPONDENT
The passing combination of Landon Ramsey to Devin Ramsey was good for 195 yards and two first-half touchdowns but Twin Springs rallied for a 28-24 win on Friday night at Goddard Field.
“They came in here and played solid football like we expected them to do,” Rangers head coach O’Brien Bennett said. “We couldn’t make that last fourth down play and that was it.”
The first period was scoreless but the Rangers scored early in the second quarter on a nine-yard scoring pass from Landon to Devin and Jamol Blamo caught the two-point pass for an 8-0 Rangers lead.
Unaka (1-2 overall) turned the Titans over on a fumble at their own 34-yard line. From there Ramsey capped off a four-play drive with a nine-yard scoring toss to Takoda Freeman. Landon Ramsey passed to Blamo for the deuce and the Rangers now led 16-0.
On the next Twin Springs possession, the Rangers got a fourth-down stop at the three-yard line. After three consecutive runs by Jamol Blamo to give the Rangers a first down at the 22-yard line, the Ramsey brothers connected again on an inside screen pass that Devin turned into a 78-yard pass and run play for a 24-0 lead after Landon ran in for two.
“They figured out our screen play and we tried to get the run game going but we couldn’t seal the deal. When you play close games like this every play determines whether you win or lose,” Bennett said. “We have got to execute better when we have the football. You look at a one-score ballgame, that means that any one play from the first quarter to the fourth quarter could be the play that determines the ballgame.”
The Titans (1-2 overall) went on a seven-play, 52-yard scoring drive with senior quarterback Eli McCoy scoring on a seven-yard scoring run. The pass for two failed and the score stood 24-6 at the break.
The second half was all Titans as they stopped Unaka’s opening drive at the 33-yard line on an interception by McCoy. The Titans then marched 67 yards on 15 plays with McCoy scoring from two yards out and Horne’s two-point run made it a 24-14 contest.
Unaka’s next drive took them to the 10-yard line where the drive fizzled and they turned it over on downs. Twin Springs then got a huge play from McCoy as he raced 84 yards down the visiting sideline for the touchdown that made it a 24-22 game after another Horne deuce.
The Rangers punted on the next series and Twin Springs – whose run game was now in full steam – put together a 66-yard drive that ended with a six-yard touchdown pass from McCoy to Mason Elliott.
The two-point run failed so the score remained 28-24.
For Twin Springs, Horne rushed 22 times for 158 yards while McCoy added 137 yards on 12 tries. McCoy was also 4-for-4 passing for 39 yards and a touchdown.
For Unaka, Landon Ramsey was 18-for-26 for 208 yards and three scores.

Twin Springs 28-24
Twin Springs 0 6 8 14 – 28
Unaka 0 24 0 0 – 24
Scoring summary
Second Quarter
U – D.Ramsey 9 pass from L.Ramsey (Ramsey pass to Blamo)11:16
U – Freeman 9 pass from L.Ramsey (L.Ramsey run) 9:01
U – D.Ramsey 78 pass from L.Ramsey (Blamo run) 2:55
T – McCoy 12 run (pass failed):51
Third Quarter
T – McCoy 2 run (Horne run) 4:24
Fourth Quarter
T – McCoy 84 run (Horne run) 11:47
T – Elliott 6 pass from McCoy (run failed) 7:28

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