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Trojans gamble and lose

TAMA – Nate Doran would call the fake on the extra point again. The first-year South Tama County head coach wanted to go for the win, so he made the call.

With 2:09 to play in the game Friday night, Clayton Rosenberger scored on a one-yard quarterback sneak to pull the Trojans within one point of Williamsburg. On the extra point attempt, Rosenberger rolled out from his holder position and lobbed the ball into the end zone. The pass was just out of reach, touching off of Isaac Judge’s fingers, and it fell incomplete.

STC’s ensuing onside kick attempt was recovered by the Raiders, and Williamsburg ran out of the clock for the 14-13 non-district win.

It was South Tama County’s first loss on its home field since Oct. 10, 2014, also to Williamsburg, a 28-20 final score.

“We just thought let’s go for it and get a win,” Doran said. “It’s non-district play. I don’t want to take anything from our kids. The heart was huge. I’ll never question that again. We dug ourselves a hole. I made a call, gambled and lost. I’ll take that hit. Our kids fought.”

The Trojans (1-1) fell behind 14-0 by halftime Friday night as Williamsburg came out dominating the line of scrimmage, and essentially running the football down the throat of the Trojans. The Raiders ran for 172 yards in the first half, as four different Williamsburg runners tallied at least 26 yards on the ground.

A 28-yard run from Gage Hazen-Fabor and a four-yard run on the first play of the second quarter by Jason Wardenburg put the Raiders out in front. STC shut down the Raider run game in the second half, as Williamsburg finished the game with 230 rushing yards as a team.

“Defensively the guys decided to step it up,” Doran said. “We started to understand what they were doing. We calmed down. We came out flat. We found our heart. We picked it up.”

On Williamsburg’s first drive of the second half, Kolbie Clark picked off Raider quarterback Isaiahn Powell and returned the interception to the Williamsburg 30. That set up a Rosenberger keeper from two yards out to get the Trojans within a touchdown.

After STC forced a Raider punt, the Trojans drove the football down the field, but the drive stalled and the ball was turned over on downs at the Raider 45. STC was called for false start penalties four times on the stalling drive. In total, the Trojans committed nine penalties, all on offense or special teams, causing STC to be moved back 53 yards.

On the first play following the turnover on downs, Hazen-Fabor broke through a hole a pickup truck could’ve been driven through and scampered 55 yards for a touchdown, only to have the score called back on a holding penalty.

The Raiders were forced to punt, and the Trojans scored on the next drive to get within one before the fake attempt came up just inches from Judge hauling it in.

Rosenberger finished 7-of-13 for 98 yards passing. Despite the two rushing touchdowns, Rosenberger ran for just nine yards. Judge and Brady Fritz did all the receiving for the Trojans. Fritz hauled in four passes for 65 yards, and Judge caught three for 33 yards. Clark led the Trojans in rushing with 95 yards on 17 carries.

“Clay, man, he made plays develop and kept things alive,” Doran said. “Found (Judge) those few times it could’ve been a 15-yard loss and turns into a 20-yard gain. It’s all the kids. The kids did everything tonight. We just came up short, ran out of time.”

South Tama County opens Class 3A District 3 play at Charles City in week three.

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