PAC Game of the Year - 2006 | Tusky Valley (2-2, 1-0 PAC) at Tuslaw (4-0, 1-0 PAC) | Week 5 | September 22, 2006
This is the seventh in an ongoing series, highlighting the PAC Game of the Year in each season, from 1999 through 2023, which will lead up to the start of the 2024 high school football season. For a look back at prior summaries, click here for
1999,
2000,
2001,
2002,
2003,
2004 and
2005.
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If you've been following along for the first seven weeks, this PAC Game of the Year series has been a bit of a Manchester Panthers Greatest Games feature. The Panthers dominated the first 16 years of PAC play in a way that we will never see again. But Tusky Valley finally used its slingshot and felled the giant in the 2005 meeting to become only the second team in 17 years to wrestle the conference championship away from the Panthers.
As the 2006 campaign dawned and ultimately played out, perhaps for the first time in conference history, there was a bit of parity amongst the top teams. We'll get the particulars out of the way early. Tuslaw and Tusky Valley tied for the conference championship in 2006. Both finished with 5-1 league marks, but Tuslaw only lost once all season, en route to a 9-1 campaign. Tusky Valley, on the other hand, struggled outside of the conference and finished the regular season 6-4.
Still, Manchester had a chance to create a three-way tie for the conference championship heading into Week 10 at home against CVCA. That game had been postponed on the final Friday night of the season due to poor field conditions and moved from James R. France Stadium to Twinsburg. The Royals throttled the Panthers 20-0, to thwart the Panthers conference title aspirations and knock the Panthers out of the playoffs for the first time in 16 years; the win allowed the Royals to punch their own playoff ticket. Both teams finished 4-2 in the conference, tied for third. The final PAC tilt of the season would have been a good choice at the PAC Game of the Year, as the Royals finished the regular season 8-2 and the Panthers fell to 7-3.
Two weeks earlier, Tuslaw and Manchester matched up in pivotal game won by the Mustangs at France Stadium 23-19 - another worthy Game of the Year candidate, and you can watch 33 minutes of game highlights from that contest here:
But let there be no question that
The Game of the Year for 2006 in the PAC happened on the tall grass of Kurtz Stadium at Tuslaw on Friday night, September 22nd. The Mustangs entered Week 5 undefeated, dismissing Rittman, Dalton, Chippewa and Triway in the season's first four weeks. And they did it averaging nearly 46 points a game. Conversely, Tusky Valley was 2-2 heading into Week 5. The Trojans dropped the first two games of the year at home (22-12 vs. Waynedale and 20-14 in overtime vs. Indian Valley). But they righted the ship to crawl back to .500 with wins at Garaway 28-21 and at home over CVCA 40-14. In retrospect, that win over the Royals was a really good win and should have set the stage for what was to transpire in Week 5.
But despite being defending conference champions, it's unlikely that anyone could have predicted what was about to play out on the Tuslaw turf.
As an aside, in frequent discussions on this site, there may be a recency bias when discussing the greatest PAC players of all-time. Naturally, the discussion turns to Marquael Parks and Ethan Wright and current Las Vegas Raider Tre Tucker. But the 2006 season had two of the greatest to suit up playing on Friday nights in CVCA's John Pettigrew and this kid doing it all for the Mustangs. Who you ask? Long timers don't have to hesitate with an answer. The Tuslaw faithful had the privilege of watching Ryan Travis.
Travis carries the ball in a 2006 playoff game at Perry.
Travis went on to become a Division II All-American and is
enshrined in the West Liberty University Hall of Fame. Former Tulsaw head coach Nate Held
lobbied to have Travis' #44 retired. (Side note: As soon as Bellstores finishes its payment on the new turf, somebody with some pull in the land of Mustangs get this done!). After he was done at West Liberty, Travis spent a training camp with the Seattle Seahawks and appeared in two NFL preseason games. All he did as a senior in 2006 was post more than 2,600 all-purpose yards as a halfback and wide receiver.
In Week 5, the Mustangs hosted the Trojans and Travis' talents were on full display. But he wasn't the only star on the field that night. Tusky Valley junior quarterback Pat Kane completed nine passes on the night - for 281 yards. Five of the completions went for six, including three long touchdown passes of 61, 71 and 47 yards.
The first of those three got the Trojans on the board when Kane hit Sam Gergley. The PAT was missed and Tusky Valley led 6-0 after a quarter. However, a pair of fumbles allowed Tuslaw to build a lead with a 17-point second quarter. Mustangs QB Shelby Combs accounted for the first Tuslaw points with a 15 yard run after the initial turnover. Then Travis added a 4-yard run for his first score of the night. A field goal made it 17-6 before Kane hit his second long bomb - the 71-yarder to Devon Weekley. A 2-point attempt failed and the teams went to the break with Tuslaw on top 17-12.
Tusky Valley's Stephen Spillman hauled in a 14-yard scoring strike in the third quarter to recapture the lead for the visitors, and this time the 2-point attempt was good. The Trojans' led 20-17 after three. But Spillman's night was just getting started. In fact, the first three quarters were just the prelude for what happened next. Those in attendance who bought seats didn't need them for the final 12 minutes.
Sportswriter Jim Thomas chronicled the insanity in
The Times Reporter. "Four touchdowns, six time outs and two field goal attempts in the final six minutes can throw any fan or player or coach into shock."
Spillman hauled in another touchdown pass - Kane's fourth of the night - from 11 yards out, and the Trojans led by ten midway through the fourth quarter. After an exchange of possessions, the Trojans punted it back to Tuslaw with just under three minutes left. Remember that guy? Ryan Travis? Earlier in the night, he had already returned a punt for 61 yards. With a ten point lead and less than three minutes to go, the Trojans kicked it away, and this time the ball was fielded by Pete Kraft. He had one job. Execute a perfect reverse hand off to Travis. The senior raced 65 yards down the sideline and didn't stop running until he crossed the goal line with 2:32 to play. The Mustangs had a pulse. The PAT was good and they trailed by 3.
Mustangs kicker Wade Bistor was then called upon to execute "a perfect (onside) kick that a hustling Kraft dove on at the Trojans 40 that sent the Mustangs faithful into a frenzy." Four plays later, the 6-3 Travis outjumped Trojans' defender Brandon Beitzel on a fade pass, and suddenly Tuslaw was moments away from snatching victory out of the jaws of defeat. The Mustangs improbably led 31-27 with less than two minutes left.
But there was time. "And four plays later, Beitzel got payback and Tusky had the lead." Kane hit Beitzel on his third bomb of the night - this time from 47 yards, and momentum swung again. Tusky Valley was up three, 34-31 with 1:11 to go.
With both teams marching up and down the field, 71 seconds was enough time for Travis to score again. And he nearly did. Except this time he didn't. A leaping grab in the end zone was called out of bounds. So Tuslaw sent Bistor out to attempt a game tying field goal to force overtime.
The 2006 PAC Game of the Year, which featured 785 yards of combined total offense and numerous huge special teams plays, came down to a kick. Bistor put a boot into it. The Trojans pushed and jumped to try to stop it. Stephen Spillman - the Trojan who was just getting started back in the third quarter - got a piece of it. The field goal was blocked. The chaos finally ended and the defending conference champs had an improbable, unbelievable 34-31 victory.
"I told them I didn't think there was a loser," said Tusky Valley head coach Dale Martini.
"It's the most amazing victory, but I couldn't explain it right now," said Spillman.
Eighteen years later, we might finally have a one-word explanation. PACtion™.
The Postscript
Tuslaw rebounded with a big win against CVCA the following week, edged Manchester in Week 8 and ran the regular season table, matching the regular season 9-1 marks of the 1998-2000 Mustangs teams. But this time, thanks to a Manchester win over Tusky Valley in Week 7, the Mustangs finally won a share of a PAC conference championship. The Mustangs earned the 5-seed in Division 4 Region 13, and had to make the long trip to Perry, where they lost in the Regional Quarterfinal 24-6 to the Pirates from Lake County.
Tusky Valley finished the regular season 6-4. They dropped the conference game to Manchester and then lost again, 14-12, at Harrison Central in Cadiz in Week 8. Still, the 5-1 conference mark gave them a share of the conference championship for the second year in a row, and the wins against Tuslaw and CVCA helped give them enough computer points to earn the 6-seed in Region 13. They drew a Trinity team that stumbled into the playoffs after losing their final three games and won the battle of the Trojans 24-16. The season ended a week later in a 49-13 loss to 2-seed Orrville at Klinefelter Stadium in Perry Township.
Here is the game story from
The Times Reporter and the box score from
The Akron Beacon Journal, both from September 23, 2006:
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