Defensive gems help Titans tame Tigers

SIMMS – Very rarely do game-defining moments happen on the first drive of a football game. Those theatrics are generally reserved for plays as the contest’s final seconds tick off the clock.

But such was the case Friday night when sophomore Logan Hauptman stepped center stage for the Flint Creek Titans.

Simms had taken the opening kickoff and used a solid mix of run and pass plays to reach the Titan five yard line. On fourth and goal Tiger quarterback Hudson Rohrer rolled left, looking for tight end Ezra Leach on an out pattern. Hauptman saw the play develop and stepped in front of the pass at the goal line, intercepting it and taking it back 80 yards for the first score of the game. Tyler Burden added the two-point conversion run and the game was inexorably changed.

Flint Creek used Hauptman’s play to springboard to a 54-8 victory at Simms, leaving them a perfect 9-0 on the year, 8-0 in South Central Conference play.

“We were just in our base defense and I was trying to stick to my zone,” explained the sophomore defender after the game. “The tight end started to pull away and I gotta follow him because there’s no one else out there.”

Hauptman’s night also included a strip takeaway in the fourth, three tackles, three assisted stops and three yards and on four carries offensively.

The played seem to jolt the host Tigers, as they fumbled on their very next possession only to have Burden pick it up and return it into good field position for the Titans who would advance it to the Simms’ four before QB Andrew Tallon scored his fist of three rushing touchdowns on the night.

“They (Simms) came out and mixed their play calling up a bunch,” reflected Flint Creek Head Coach Jason Ostler. “That interception return was huge and it seemed like it threw them out of their groove and they never really got it back.”

Tallon gave the Titans their fourth score of the night early in the second period when he hit Trey Phillips with a beautiful touch pass of 30 yards that the lanky junior reeled in for the score and a 32-0 lead.

Simms mounted its only scoring drive of the game on its next series, using senior tail back Colby South as their workhorse. Rohrer would eventually hit South with a 19-yard scoring pass and the latter added the two-point run to decrease the deficit to 32-8.

But the Tiger faithful had little time to cheer. Just two minutes later Burden took an inside hand off to the left sideline and raced 25 yards for the score. The TD tied him with former Titan Kade Cutler for most rushing touchdowns in a season at 29. Burden finished the night with 184 yards on 20 carries, his seventh game of 100 yards or more in a row this season.

Tallon’s third rushing TD and a 16-yard QB keeper by reserve Kadin Graveley rounded out the scoring for Flint Creek in the third.

Burden was the top defender with six tackles, three assists and a fumble recovery. Reece Rigby had five stops, including a sack and one for a loss. Ben Bradshaw also logged a sack in his trio of tackles.

Now the Titans turn their attention to the postseason. They will open the playoffs at home in Drummond October 29 at 1 p.m. against Park City, the No. 3 team out of the Southeastern Conference that finished 3-4 on the year, 2-3 against conference opponents.

NOTEBOOK – Flint Creek’s victory leaves them with a perfect 22-0 mark in regular season play from 2020 to 2022. Overall they are 32-1, which includes the postseason play from those two previous seasons. … Tyler Burden’s touchdown ties him with Kade Cutler for single season rushing TDs with 29. His 184 yards give him 1,689 for the season and leaves him just 39 yards short of Shields Valley’s Brock Petersen at 1,728 yards in tenth place on the state’s 8-man single rushing record list. Burden is just 460 yards away from the 8-Man single season record of 2,149 yards set by Arlee’s Rusty Hanson in 1998. … Logan Hauptman’s 80-yard interception return sets a Flint Creek record. … With their two picks against Simms, the Titans have now had 10 interceptions in their last three games – six by Andrew Tallon, three by Michael James and one by Hauptman – with each man returning one for a score. …

SCORING

Flint Creek – 24/14/16/0 – 54

Simms – 0/8/0/0 – 8

FIRST QUARTER

7:06 FC Hauptman interception return 80 yds TD. Burden run.

5:51 FC Tallon 4 yd run TD. Tallon to Phillips pass.

0:00 FC Tallon 3 yd run TD. Tallon to Parsons pass.

SECOND QUARTER

10:42 FC Tallon 30 yd pass to Phillips TD. Tallon run.

3:05 SM Rohrer 19 yd pass to South TD. South run.

1:12 FC Burden 25 yd run TD. Pass failed.

THIRD QUARTER