They had to work overtime.
But the Salem Tigers were able to give the student body and community a very happy homecoming Friday, Oct. 3.
Senior Gavin Sapaugh caught a nine-yard pass from senior quarterback Hayden Ragsdale for the game-winning touchdown and Ragsdale then hit junior Paxton Deason with a pass for the two-point conversion to allow the Tigers to clip the Willow Springs Bears 20-12 in overtime during SCA play Oct. 3 in the Salem Homecoming Game at Schuchardt Stadium.
The Tigers improved to 2-4 overall and 1-3 in conference. Willow Springs fell to 3-3 and 1-3.
Salem struggled coming out of the gate, and Willow Springs bolted to a 12-0 advantage by halftime. However, the Tigers turned the tables on the Bears in the second half, outscoring them 12-0 the rest of regulation to tie the game 12-12 and force overtime.
Willow Springs won the overtime coin flip and elected to play defense on the opening series. In overtime, each team gets an offensive possession, starting 25 yards from the endzone, with regular rules to gain first downs. A team can advance with first downs, turn the ball over on downs, attempt a field goal or score a touchdown followed by an extra-point attempt or a two-point conversion attempt. Both teams get those opportunities, and if the score is still tied after each team has an offensive possession, another overtime period is held.
Salem got the OT’s first offensive possession and moved the ball to the nine yardline, when Ragasdale hit Sapaugh - who started the season as an offensive lineman - with a nine-yard TD pass. The Tigers elected to go for a two-point conversion and succeeded when Ragsdale hit Deason in the endzone with a pass, giving the home team a 20-12 advantage.
Willow Springs took over and ran three consecutive rushing plays, while also committing a 10-yard holding penalty, and found itself with a fourth-and-10 situation. On fourth down the Bears fired a pass into the endzone, which was incomplete, sealing the Salem victory.
“It was fourth-and-10 and we see it go up,” Salem head coach Neal Myers said of the overtime’s final play. “It was like a movie thing - slowed down. (Tiger defenders) Deason hit the receiver trying to catch the ball from behind first, then (Sylis) DuBois hit him in the front. For a second you couldn’t tell if he caught it or not, but then you could see it was incomplete.
“It was exciting. The student body stuck around and after the game was over and we won, they charged out on the field. That was really nice to see.”
Myers said the Tigers’ scoring in overtime didn’t exactly go as originally planned.
“Will Land is our kicker and he was gassed,” Myers said. “So we went for two instead of kicking, and it worked out well. It was a beautiful pass from Ragsdale for the two-point conversion; he floated it into Deason’s hands.”
The Bears took the lead early, getting a touchdown in each of the first two periods, with sophomore quarterback Caden Lee playing a key role in both.
Willow Springs opened the scoring in the first quarter when Lee scored on a 12-yard TD keeper. The PAT attempt failed, leaving it 6-0.
The Bears built on their lead in the final seconds of the second quarter when Lee hit senior wideout John Baugh with a 17-yard touchdown pass. They then went for a two-point conversion but failed to convert, leaving it 12-0 at halftime.
Land, a junior running back, helped Salem tie things up before the end of regulation.
In the third period Land scored on a seven-yard run. The extra point kick attempt failed.
And in the fourth period Land struck again, scoring on a 16-yard TD run. The Tigers attempted to take the lead with a two-point conversion, but it failed and the game was tied 12-12 at the end of regulation.
“We had to come from behind,” Myers said. “The first half was the same thing for us - we were shooting ourselves in the foot. But we came out with a different mindset in the second half. I am very proud of them. Our offensive line did very well in the second half and took the game over.”
Salem finished with 238 yards of total offense - 204 of that rushing. DuBois, a junior, ran for 89 yards on 11 attempts while Land finished with 55 yards on 13 attempts and sophomore Alton May 46 yards on six carries.
Freshman linebacker Drake Smith finished with 11 tackles - six solo.
The Tigers will meet one of the conference powers this week, hosting state-ranked Mountain Grove Friday. Kickoff at Schuchardt Stadium is 7 p.m. The Mountain Grove Panthers, ranked No. 7 in last week’s Missouri Class 3 state poll, improved to 5-1 overall and 4-0 in the SCA by beating Mountain View Liberty 35-6 last week.
Leading the Mountain Grove offensive attack is senior quarterback Aden Estep, a four-year starter. Estep has rushed for 402 yards (7.7 yards-per-carry) and four TDs and passed for 172 yards and six TDs.
Also for the Panthers, junior Eli Golden has rushed for 647 yards (12.4) and 10 touchdowns and junior Braydon Curtiss has run for 541 yards (6.5) and six TDs.
“They are very well-disciplined,” Myers said of Mountain Grove. “They run the same type of offense we do. They’re one of the top two teams in the conference. (Estep) is now starting at cornerback and returns kicks as well. He’s lightning in a bottle; just a game-changer.”
Oct. 3 at Salem
Salem Homecoming
Salem 20, Willow Springs 12 (OT)
The score by periods:
W. Springs 6 6 0 0 0-12
Salem 0 0 6 6 8-20
The score by periods:
Willow Springs: Lee 12-yard run, kick fails.
Willow Springs: Baugh 17-yard pass from Lee, conversion fails.
Salem: Land seven-yard run, kick fails.
Salem: Land 16-yard run, conversion fails.
Salem: Sapaugh nine-yard pass from Ragsdale, Ragsdale passes to Deason for conversion.
Salem Individual Statistics
Rushing: DuBois 11 for 89, Land 13 for 55, May 6 for 46, Deason 1 for 5, Malone 3 for 3, Ragsdale 8 for minus-2.
Passing: Ragsdale 2-4-34-1.
Receiving: Sapaugh 2 for 34.
Tackle Leaders: D. Smith 6 (solos)-5 (assists), Malone 6-1, Halinar 6-1.
Fumble Recoveries: D. Smith 1.
