A quarterback keeper by Mason Rongey was stopped at the one yard line by the Marceline defense with 34 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, stopping a two-point conversion attempt and giving the host Tigers a 29-27 Grand River Conference win over the Trenton Bulldogs at Chester Ray Stadium.
Marceline started fast in the Friday night contest, taking the opening kickoff and driving over 4 minutes for a series ended with a 17 yard touchdown run by Cody Rodgers, with the PAT making it 7-0 Tigers.
Trenton tied the game four minutes into the second quarter, with a two-yard plunge by Cooper Houser knotting the game at 7-7.
One of the most damaging segments of the contest for the Bulldogs was in the final minutes of the first half, with a Rodgers one yard touchdown run with 3:56 remaining in the quarter giving Marceline a 14-7 lead. A Trenton defensive stop late in the half gave the Bulldogs a chance for possession to cut into the lead, but the punt was muffed and recovered by Marceline, with the Tigers gaining nearly 45 yards of field position and scoring on a 14 yard run by quarterback Dax Thomas with 22 seconds remaining in the half, leaving the score 21-7 at the break.
Trenton, needing to get back momentum, scored on the first possession of the third quarter, with a 14 yard connection between Rongey and senior half-back Aiden Weyer cutting the lead to 21-14. Tom Johnson had the call on KGOZ FM 101.7:
Although Trenton’s hopes to tie were held back on a second-half goal line stand by the Marceline defense, the Bulldogs continued to control the majority of play, with a 3rd-and-long pass with just under six minutes remaining giving Trenton the long-awaited tying score:
The go-ahead points from Marceline would soon follow, as a fake pitch by Dax Thomas fooled the Bulldogs defense with 3:53 remaining:
With a 27-21 lead, Marceline attempted the traditional extra point, but a bobbled snap forced Thomas to improvise. Sprinting to his left, Thomas threw a back-handed pass into the end zone for a successful two-point conversion, pushing the lead to 29-21.
Trenton feverishly got into position to get the touchdown that set up the game-deciding two-point conversion, as Rongey spilled over the goal line to cut the lead to 29-27. The failed two-point conversion that sealed Trenton’s fate followed.
Another single-digit loss for the Bulldogs drops Trenton’s record to 2-6, while Marceline broke a two-game losing skid and improved to 4-4. Trenton will host the Penney Hornets this Friday night (October 25th) in a 7 o’clock kickoff at C.F. Russell Stadium, while Marceline will try to upset unbeaten GRC champion Brookfield in the annual Bell Game at 7 o’clock on Friday back at Chester Ray Stadium in Marceline.
Here is the area scoreboard from Friday, October 18, 2024:
Brookfield 18, Milan 0 (Brookfield clinches GRC regular season title)
Putnam County 36, Gallatin 14
Polo 36, South Harrison 34
East Buchanan 40, Maysville 8
Mid-Buchanan 20, Penney 6
Lawson 28, North Platte 21
West Platte 49, Lathrop 14
Lafayette County 49, Lexington 6
Holden 60, Carrollton 0
Knob Noster 10, Richmond 6
Cameron 43, Benton 8
Savannah 42, Maryville 14
St. Pius X 74, Lafayette 0
Chillicothe 20, Odessa 10
Kirksville 42, Fulton 0
Hannibal 57, Marshall 14
Mexico 39, Moberly 20
St. Joseph Christian 74, Princeton 20
Worth County 60, King City 14
Albany 78, Pattonsburg 74
North Andrew 48, Stanberry 20
Rock Port 44, East Atchison 12
Nodaway Valley 52, Stewartsville/Osborn 0
Platte Valley 60, DeKalb 7
Mound City 36, South Holt 21
Braymer 58, Norborne/Hardin-Central 42
Concordia 42, Sweet Springs 6
Slater 68, Paris 48
Northwest (Hughesville) 68, Keytesville 32
Wellington-Napoleon 49, St. Paul Lutheran 0
Orrick 48, Santa Fe 22
Archie 78, Plattsburg 30
Schuyler County 62, North Shelby 58
Knox County 76, Southwest Livingston 18
