PAC Game of the Year - 2008 | Triway (6-2, 4-1 PAC) at Tuslaw (8-0, 5-0 PAC) | Week 9 | October 17, 2008
This is the tenth 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,
2005,
2006 and
2007.
__________________________________________
This edition of the PAC Game of the Year comes a day later than normal, as we round out the first decade of games in this series.
Indian Valley rejoined the conference in 2008. The Braves were a charter member of the PAC, but had played the previous twelve seasons in the East Central Ohio Conference. In fact, Indian Valley had one of the two conference victories over Manchester in the first 16 years of conference play, back in 1993 when the went undefeated in the PAC to be the only school other than Manchester to be crowed champions of the PAC before 2005.
But in 2008, the Braves were not a factor. They went winless in conference and finished 2-8 overall. Like the previous year, CVCA and Tuslaw remained at the top of the conference standings for a second year in a row, and their Week 6 matchup, with both teams undefeated through the first half of the conference schedule would seem to be the logical choice as Game of the Year. Tuslaw outmuscled CVCA at home, 18-13, to gain the upper hand in the conference championship race.
But seasons build. And while it's hard to pass on a midseason battle of two undefeateds as the PAC Game of the Year, the 2008 season came down to a late season matchup on the high grass at Tuslaw, where the Mustangs hosted Triway.
The Titans season began with a win over West Holmes, but they followed that up by being on the wrong side of a 34-13 beatdown at Orrville during the Red Riders' heyday in the Ohio Cardinal Conference. After a 15-12 squeaker against Waynedale, the Titans doubled up Manchester 26-13 at home. But a week 5 trip to CVCA produced a similar result to that earlier visit to Orrville. The Royals dominated the Titans 35-12, and the Titans were 3-2 (1-1) at the season's halfway mark. All the attention was on undefeated CVCA and Tuslaw.
But with the lights and energy focused on the two top teams, something clicked for the Titans. The offense took things to the next level and the defense got stingy. Triway 52 Fairless 7. Triway 56 Indian Valley 14. Triway 45 Tusky Valley 6. Suddenly, an unsteady first half of the season had turned into a Week 9 opportunity to compete for a share of a conference championship.
Triway headed back out of the road in Week 9 against the undefeated Mustangs, determined to produce a better result than than in their season's first two excursions to Orrville and CVCA. It turned out to be a night for the defenses. A night few in attendance would ever forget.
The Titans defense held the Mustangs to just 72 rushing yards on 32 carries. Tuslaw quarterback Shelby Combs engineered a touchdown on the game's first possession, when he hit Graydon Feichter on a fade from the Titans 24-yard line. But it was tough sledding after that. He finished just 6 for 28 for 72 yards and a pick.
However, the Mustangs defense was just as good - if not better. In fact, they pitched a shutout against the Titans offense, which managed 133 yards on the ground but just 33 yards through the air and was never able to score. Still, the Titans were in a tie game in the fourth quarter because of an 85-yard scoop and score of a Combs fumble by junior Cole Drake early in the second quarter.
The 7-7 halftime deadlock showed no signs of being broken as the defenses continued to dominate into the fourth quarter.
Sometimes, you have to pull victory out of the jaws of defeat. During Week 9 in 2008, the Titans pulled victory out of a completely different anatomical area. I'll let
The Daily Record's Aaron Dorksen pick up the story from there from his October 18, 2008 game story.
Drake wasn't done. He picked off a pass as the game ended to seal the win for the Titans.
Current Triway head coach Cody Kelly was a key contributor to the victory, and he was ecstatic after the game. Again from the Dorksen game story:
CVCA and Triway both finished the season at 9-1 (6-1).
And because of the
The Boot Heard Round The PAC, the 2008 Mustangs finished 8-2 (6-1) after a Week 10 57-0 thrashing of Timken, and were a part of the three-way tie for the conference championship.
Never before and perhaps never again. The conference championship came down to a Special Teams punt gone wrong ... but oh so right.
#PACtion™
Postscript
The 8-2 (6-1) season earned Triway the 6-seed in Division 4 Region 13, but they drew the long drive to Perry and fell to the Pirates 41-7 in the first round of the Playoffs
Tuslaw was the 2-seed in Region 13 and they throttled LaBrae 28-0 for a first round playoff victory. But they too ran into Perry at Twinsburg's Tiger Stadium in the Regional Semifinal and were shutout 47-0 and finished 10-2.
CVCA was the 5-seed as the PAC sent all three teams to the Region 13 playoffs. The Royals traveled to Youngstown but fell to Mooney 14-6 at Stambaugh Stadium in the first round
Want to read more about the game? Here's the link, with the ABJ box score below.
View attachment 58212
