Sept. 18: Ironwood Ridge 31, Tucson High 28
All the extra time Ironwood Ridge has devoted to practicing placekicking this season paid off Friday night — literally — when sophomore kicker Cash Peterman nailed a game-winning field goal in the final seconds at Tucson High School.
Yes, his name really is Cash — he even wears socks with images of bills silk-screened on them to prove it.
“It was just another field goal,” said Peterman, who also wears gold cleats. “You just go through the motions.”
The Nighthawks held a 14-point lead early in the second quarter but had to turn it on down the stretch to top the Badgers 31-28, despite another big game from Tucson running back DeAndre Williams, who rushed for 186 yards and three touchdowns (see box score below).
Peterman spoiled the night for Williams and his teammates when he drilled a 24-yard field goal with just 2.3 seconds left in the game, giving I-Ridge its third straight win and handing Tucson (3-1) its first loss of the year.
“We finish every Thursday with 20 field goals,” said I-Ridge coach Matt Johnson. “That’s our last team thing before we get here.”
Fittingly, that was how I-Ridge finished things off Friday night, too.
Players watching from the sideline jumped in celebration and poured onto the field once Peterman’s kick had cleared the uprights. It put an end to a battle between two Division II foes that seemed to be heading to overtime.
“I love Cash,” said senior Cole McLafferty. “We give him so much crap at practice but he comes out here and works everyday. I absolutely love Cash.”
McLafferty caught a crucial go-ahead touchdown pass earlier in the fourth quarter when senior quarterback Harrison Beemiller heaved a 29-yard pass his way with the Nighthawks facing fourth down.
McLafferty snagged the ball right on the goal line and fell into the end zone for the score to put I-Ridge up 28-21 with 8:50 left in the final quarter.
“I was in panic mode, complete panic mode” McLafferty said. “I caught it like a punt; my mindset was to catch it and fall down.
“That was a big game; I’m happy we knocked them off their pedestal.”
I-Ridge (3-1) appeared to have the game locked up later in the quarter but Beemiller lost a fumble on the Tucson 7, giving the Badgers a second life. Three plays later, sophomore Jeff Lockwood broke free for an 87-yard touchdown to tie the game at 28 with exactly 3 minutes remaining.
“It was a big mistake,” Beemiller said. “I saw a touchdown so I kind of let my guard down. He tackled me good on that, I couldn’t get away from him.
“I just need to learn to protect the ball in tight situations like that but I knew my team was going to bounce back.”
The Nighthawks, playing on the road for the first time this season, did just that, putting together a 10-play, 63-yard drive to set up Peterman’s field goal. The win helped earn revenge for a 51-30 loss the last time I-Ridge played at Gridley Stadium in 2013 and improved the Nighthawks to 8-1 against Tucson all time.
Beemiller opened the second half with a 45-yard touchdown run on the second play from scrimmage to put I-Ridge up 21-7 but Williams responded with a 21-yard scoring run on third-and-1.
“Every loss is hard to swallow but tonight we showed we’re with the best teams in the state,” Williams said. “There’s not another team I’d rather play for than the guys right here.”
I-Ridge took a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter on Friday night, thanks to a pair of third-down touchdown runs within four minutes of each other.
First, Beemiller plowed his way into the end zone on third-and-goal from the 1-yard line, just three plays after Paul Gallegos broke lose for a 49-yard gain with the Nighthawks facing another third down.
Second-string quarterback Cole Gerken made it 14-0 when he flew up the middle for a 26-yard touchdown run on a quarterback keeper on third-and-3 to cap off a quick five-play drive, two minutes into the second quarter.
Williams got the Badgers on the board with 4:40 left in the first half when he sprinted up the Tucson sideline for a 79-yard touchdown,
“It was tough,” Tucson coach Justin Argraves said. “I’m proud of my kids, they fought and fought to the very end.”
Daniel Gaona
