Tigers fall in heartbreaker game to Frankston

Linden-Kildare hosted the Frankston Indians last Friday night at Jack Hetherington-Tigers Stadium.

Both teams came out swinging in the melee which ended with a combined 74 points between the two teams.

L-K had a chance to close the game out with a win but left points on the field as Frankston won by a narrow 40-34 margin.

First Quarter

If there was any indication of how the game could have went for the Tigers it was on the kickoff.

An L-K player made a nice tackle on the Indians’ ball carrier which caused him to fumble the pigskin. Unfortunately it bounced right into the hands of another Frankston player who broke free and retuned the ball to the L-K 35.

The Indians scored after four plays at the 10:07 mark. The kicker missed the point after but Frankston was up 6-0.

After a solid return by Ja’Kyrik Nard the Tigers began its first drive of the contest from the 44. From there Bug Patterson picked up 14 yards on two carries which put the Tigers in Indians’ territory.

Working from the 32, Russel Nance bolted 38 yards to the Frankston 4-yard line.

Patterson finished off the drive with a score from four yards out. Tawin Patterson ran in the 2-point conversion and L-K was up 8-6 with 8:34 left in the first frame.

Frankston felt the effects of hard tackles by Jackson Lee, Landon Liles, Colton Anderson and Puff Peters on its first two drives, but somehow managed to work through the Tiger defenders for scores.

The Indians scored again at the 5:51 mark and after the successful PAT lead 13- 8.

L-K’s next set of plays was a mixture of runs by Bug, Nard and Nance but the Tigers ended up punting the ball away later in the drive.

The first quarter ended with Frankston picking up a first down near midfield.

Second Quarter

The second quarter opened with the Indians ripping off a huge run to the Tiger 39.

Frankston scored two plays later with 11:12 left in the first half of play and took a 20-8 lead after the PAT.

L-K went three-and-out on its next drive and had to punt the ball away.

Frankston put together a nice drive and moved the ball from its own 39 to the Tigers’ 5-yard line.

L-K’s defense held up and had the Indians facing a third down from the five a couple of play later.

Looking to put the game out of reach the Indians’ QB dropped back to pass but Jonathan Owen stepped in front of the pass, intercepted the ball and made a nice return to the 37.

With a change in momentum the Tigers went to work.

Bug picked up 18 yards on the first few carries which put the Tigers across midfield and into Indian country.

The Tigers faced a fourthand-three a couple of plays later and needed to convert in a big way.

L-K quarterback Mason Johnson took the snap and flicked the ball to Bug who handed it off to Nance on the reverse.

Nance broke free and galloped 43 yards to the Frankston 1-yard line.

Bug finished the drive with a 1-yard score and even though they missed the 2-point play L-K was within reach at 20-14 with 3:05 left on the clock.

The final minute of the first half was an entertaining one.

Frankston scored on a big touchdown pass with 43 seconds left and after the PAT went up 27-14.

On the ensuing kickoff Jay Birmingham returned the ball 60 yards to the Frankston 20.

Johnson connected with Owen on an 11-yard pass and followed that up with a 9-yard touchdown pass to Nance on a slant.

The 2-point play was no good but L-K was within striking distance at 27-20 with seven seconds left in the first half.

Before the Owen interception, Frankston looked to go up three scores but the momentum shift put L-K outscoring the Indians 12-7 down the stretch.

Third Quarter

The Tigers received the ball to open the second half and put together a nice time-consuming drive.

L-K got nice run contributions from Nance, Bug, Tawin and Clayton Mulkey on the drive.

Tawin eventually put the Tigers in the redzone with a 24-yard jaunt and Mulkey finished off the drove with touchdown.

Nance ran in the 2-point play and L-K was up 28-27 with 6:57 left in the third stanza.

Frankston scored again before the quarter ended and with the PAT led 34-28 with 5:01 showing on the clock.

L-K punted the ball away just before the quarter ended.

Fourth Quarter

The Tigers’ defense forced Frankston to punt just a minute into the final quarter.

On the punt Frankston was penalized for interfering with Birmingham as he attempted to catch the ball, and L-K began its drive in Frankston territory.

Unfortunately the Tigers went three-and-out and punted the ball away with under five minutes left in the game.

Frankston scored the proverbial nail in the coffn TD on its next drive and after missing the 2-point play had a 40-28 lead with 3:43 left in the contest.

L-K went into comeback mode and scored again after Johnson connected with Nard on a nice 34-yard touchdown pass.

The 2-point play was no good but L-K was within a score with Frankston hanging on to a 40-34 lead and 1:51 left in the game.

Frankston recovered the onside kick and eventually ran out the clock.

L-K plays at Price-Carlisle this Friday night with kickoff set for 7:30 p.m.