After building a 21-7 lead early in the second quarter, the Houston High School football team was unable to complete the job and fell 41-35 in a back-and-forth contest Friday night at Springfield Catholic.
The host Fighting Irish opened the scoring with 9:43 left in the first quarter on a 1-yard touchdown run by sophomore Boston Hartman and a point-after kick by junior James Corbett.
But Houston quickly evened things up when freshman Tucker Venn returned the ensuing kickoff 90 yards for a TD and junior Dillon Shelton booted an extra point.
On the first play of Catholic’s next possession, Venn (at linebacker) intercepted a pass to give the Tigers the ball at their own 30-yard line. The Big Red Offense took advantage, and with 4:45 to go in the period, senior quarterback DJ Riley busted through traffic for a 10-yard touchdown run.
After Shelton kicked another extra point, the visitors were ahead 14-7. Late in the quarter, Houston’s defense stopped an Irish drive on an incomplete pass on a fourth-down-and-4 play and the Tigers gained possession at their own 35-yard line.
Early in the second period, Riley tossed a pass over the middle to senior tight end Mason Dodson, and Dodson ran for a 30-yard touchdown. Shelton nailed another point-after and Houston was up 21-7.
But Catholic tied the score before halftime, closing the gap to 21-14 on a 3-yard run by Hartman and an extra point by Corbett, and then pulling even on a 32-yard TD run by senior Easton Gifford and a kick by Corbett.
Midway through the third quarter, Houston gained possession of the ball deep in Catholic territory after the Irish lined up for a punt and the snap went high over the punter’s head. Moments later, junior Aaron “Tank” McCarthy rumbled 18 yards to the 1-yard line and then bashed his way through a crowd for a touchdown on the next play. After another extra point by Shelton, the Tigers enjoyed a 28-21 lead – their last of the game.
With about 4 minutes left in the third quarter, Catholic tied the score when sophomore Jett Lewis threw a short pass to junior Sam Boster and Boster ran for a 33-yard touchdown, followed by an extra point kick by Corbett.
Then on the first play of the fourth period, Lewis launched a perfect pass to sophomore Jack Belz in the left side of the end zone for a 31-yard TD. After Corbett booted an extra point, the Irish were ahead 35-28 – their first lead since early in the first period.
Catholic extended the advantage to 41-28 a short time later on a 54-yard touchdown run by Gifford. The point-after kick failed, but at that point, the Irish had outscored the Tigers 34-7 since trailing 21-7 in the first half.
With 4:53 to go in the game, Houston cut the margin on an 11-yard TD run by Venn.
The Tigers still had a chance with less than a minute left, getting a defensive stop on a fourth down play and then moving the ball quickly on a long pass from Riley to Shelton (at wide receiver). But with 12 seconds to go, Lewis (at defensive back) intercepted a pass at the Catholic 5-yard line. At quarterback, Lewis took a knee on the next play and time expired.
Houston (1-1) hosts Salem next Friday (Sept. 12) on Homecoming Night. The Dent County Tigers (1-1) won Friday at Linn, 26-8.