For their obligatory Thursday-night game this season, the varsity Owls got down early but came back, using a potent ground attack and forcing two turnovers to claim a 36-23 win over the White Station Spartans to improve to 5-1 on the year. The loss drops the Spartans to 1-4.
The Spartans started the scoring by taking the opening kickoff and driving down the field, using 8 plays to go 71 yards as QB Tim Robertson finished the drive with a 29-yard touchdown run. Sam Galler blocked the extra point, but White Station led early, 6-0, with 7:22 left in the first quarter.
The Owls answered on their first offensive drive by using 8 plays to go 39 yards, but the drive stalled, and Joshua Wittber connected on a 46-yard field goal, his career long, to close the gap to 6-3 with 3:13 left in the first quarter.
After the defense forced a punt, Gray Gowen gave the Owls the lead in the second quarter as he covered 31 yards on the final 4 carries of the drive, finishing with a 1-yard touchdown run. Wittber's PAT gave the Owls the 10-6 lead with 7:27 left in the half.
White Station answered quickly as Cam Cox caught a 73-yard touchdown pass from Robertson just 24 seconds later to regain the lead for the Spartans at 12-10 following the missed PAT. But the Owls needed only 3 plays to answer back as QB Maddox Giel scored his 6th touchdown on the season, a 41-yard run to give the Owls the lead back, 17-12. Just before the half, Michael Martinez kicked a 30-yard field goal for White Station, and the Owls led, 17-15 at the break.
In the second half, Giel and the Owl offense extended the lead as he scored from 24-yards out to complete the opening 7-play, 51-yard drive that took by 3:07. Neither team could score the next two possessions, but the Owls took advantage on their punt as the Spartans muffed it at the Owl 5-yard line, and Dallas Keras recovered. A Tommie Reed 3-yard touchdown run increased the advantage to 31-15 following Wittber's extra point. And just 46 seconds later, the Owls added a safety as a bad snap caused the Spartans to recover in their endzone, downing the ball there. The Owls led, 33-15, going into quarter 4.
Following the free kick, the Owls got into Spartan territory quickly, but the drive stalled, and Wittber was called on to connect on a 37-yard field goal to give the Owls the 36-15 lead with 9:13 left in the game. But a 5-play, 80-yard drive, culminated by Robertson's 3-yard run, and then his two-point rush, closed the advantage to 36-23 with 2:07 left. But the hosts did a good job of securing multiple onside-kick attempts and ultimately came out with the Thursday-night win.
