CINCINNATI – Versailles used a bend-but-don’t-break defense to take down the Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy (CHCA) Eagles Friday night, 20-10. The Tiger offense struggled to sustain drives in the first half while the Eagles threw all over the field. The Tigers gave up yards, but not points. Woody Hayes once said, “There are three things that can happen when you pass the ball, and two of them are bad.” The Eagles found that out Friday night with four interceptions.
The Eagles were driving early in the second quarter, but a Max Wilker interception at the Tiger 18 flipped the field. Wilker returned the interception to the Eagle seven-yard line. The Tigers faced a fourth-and-goal at the 1, but could not capitalize.
CHCA completed a 35-yard pass on the first play to get some room to operate. A holding penalty kept the Eagles from a first and goal at the eight-yard line. The Tiger defense forced them to try a 32-yard field goal. The kick was good and the Tigers trailed 3-0.
The Tigers moved the ball before an interception would stop the drive. A pass would hit the Eagle defensive end in the chest, and he was able to grab it and hold on to stop the Tigers. The Tigers would get another interception, and that would take them into halftime.
Versailles’ Reed Raterman got the Tigers the ball back on another interception. Versailles had the ball at midfield, and the offense would finally get moving, scoring late in the third on an 11-yard Oliver Brunswick run to take a 7-3 lead.
CHCA answered right back with a five-yard quarterback keeper to retake the lead 10-7 with 10:44 left in the game. The lead would be short-lived as Brunswick would get his second touchdown of the night on a 72-yard run with 9:43 left in the game for a 14-10 lead.
The Tigers would go on a six-minute drive to score again on a 10-yard pass from Monnin to Kade Schwartz. “ That’s Tigerball right there.” Said Coach Scott Broerman. “That’s what we pride ourselves on.” The Tigers would go for two but come up short, leaving the score 20-10. The Eagles would run out of time, and Versailles goes into M.A.C. play with a 2-0 record.
