UNION CITY – The Mississinawa Valley Blackhawks and the Dixie Greyhounds met up on the Hawks home field for a wild Friday night WOAC finish, with the teams combining for 20 points in the final 43 seconds of the game and Mississinawa Valley coming away with a 20-6 victory.
Mississinawa Valley entered the night on a 19-game losing skid, with its last win coming at the hands of Dixie, a 55-0 victory in the second game of the 2022 season.
“We were on a losing streak, but that’s over with now,” MV Coach Steve Trobridge said following the win. “It’s a good win. We needed this, it wasn’t pretty but a win is a win.”
“We’re not the biggest; we’re not the fastest,” Trowbridge continued. “We have 28 kids with tough grit; we don’t quit, and it showed today.”
The teams played a scoreless first quarter, with Mississinawa Valley grabbing a 6-0 lead seconds before the halftime break, scoring on a 5-yard touchdown strike from freshman quarterback Caleb Spradling to Leland Kauffman with 0:21 showing on the second quarter clock, sending the teams to the break with the Blackhawks holding a 6-0 advantage.
The teams played a scoreless third quarter. With the Blackhawks clinging to a slim 6-0 lead and the fourth quarter clock winding down, Dixie took advantage of several long penalties to knot the score at 6-6 with 0:43 remaining on the fourth quarter clock. A missed extra-point attempt had the teams looking at a sure game-ending tie with just 12 points scored in the defensive struggle through the first 47:17 minutes of play and 0:43 remaining to be played.
“We knew the kicker was good, so we put in a little stunt package to help us,” Trobridge noted, “and it came through today.”
With Mississinawa Valley’s Caleb Spradling under center, the freshman quarterback completed a long pass, moving the Hawks downfield, setting up a Spradling to Bryce Watson Hail Mary touchdown pass good for a 12-6 score with 0:13 on the game clock. A Spradling to Kyle Wehrkamp two-point conversion pass had the Hawks up 14-6 and kicking off to the Greyhounds.
“There is a freshman quarterback, and then there is a quarterback who does not play like a freshman,” said Coach Trobridge. “Caleb, you could tell he goes to the camps; he does all the work to it. What cold water goes through his veins in those final moments.”
Following a long Dixie kickoff return to near midfield using up five seconds on the clock, Dixie set up a Hail Mary attempt with 0:08 remaining, only to have Ashton Amspaugh chase down Dixie senior quarterback Wyatt Hilman for a quarterback sack with assistance from Wehrkamp and Colton Hiestand forcing a fumble with Nick Ward scooping up the ball on the run and returning it for a touchdown and no time remaining on the clock giving the home team Blackhawks a thrilling 20-6 conference win.
“Defensively, we came out tonight and played well,” said Coach Trobridge. “We had three guys injured, two of them starting linemen, so we were playing with a bandaged offensive line. It showed a little bit tonight. We made some flips and changes, but our offensive coach, Coach Watson, never gave up and never panicked, and it showed tonight. Last year it was a struggle offensively so we made some changes. We brought in a new offensive staff to help change it, and tonight, it showed.”
“My JV players on the side, hats off to the bench, they’re going crazy all the way,” Trobridge added. “My offensive coach, Coach Watson, and Coach Scott who coaches our offensive line, a big shout out to them, the whole offensive line, it’s a whole team win.”
