Football: Jonathan Alder tops Thomas Worthington
By Chris Miles
Sports Editor
Jonathan Alder football coach Steve Coate has supreme confidence in his system and his players.
How else do you explain the coach rolling the dice and giving up what would’ve likely been a sure three points just before the half in attempt to score even more, even though his team trailed 6-0 at the time? Probably because he knew deep down inside that his team was on the verge of an offensive explosion.
Alder scored 21 unanswered points in the third quarter after being held without a point in the first half and rolled to a 28-6 season-opening victory.
“We have a young team and have a lot of guys playing their first varsity game and they’re not sure what they can do,” Coate said. “The combination of momentum and confidence made it a really good third quarter.”
The Pioneers trailed host Thomas Worthington 6-0 just before the half and marched all the way down to the Cardinals 8-yard line with just :08 remaining on the clock. But instead of trotting out usually reliable kicker Nick Smith for what would’ve been a makeable 33-yard field attempt he opted to allow quarterback Andy Fooce to throw a pass.
The attempt was just out of the reach of wide out Matt Rowe in the end zone and the Pioneers went to the lockerroom trailing 6-0. But there was no panic on the Alder sideline and the coach knew that it was just a matter of time before his squad would get rolling.
The coach’s trust in his team’s ability to make plays paid off the very next time the Pioneers touched the ball. Senior Derritt Potts took the opening kickoff of the second half and raced 99 yards for a touchdown that swung momentum in favor of the visitors for the rest of the game.
“We had some movement there in the first half but just couldn’t score,” Coate said. “We were in that situation where we just needed a spark and we got it with the return. He’s pretty dangerous, everybody knows that.”
Potts knew that his team needed a little something extra to start the second half and he was happy to provide it.
“We came out of the lockerroom pretty confident and we knew we had to score,” Potts said. “We knew we could score we just needed to get it going.”
A quick three-and-out by the Worthington offense on its next possession set Alder up with a short field and Pioneers Andy Fooce orchestrated a 4-play, 32-yard drive that ended with a 10-yard Fooce scoring run and a 14-6 lead with 8:40 to play in the third quarter.
Alder made it 28 straight points in the game when Fooce hooked up with Brad Miller on a 11-yard scoring strike with just :54 remaining in the third stanza. Fooce plunged in from 1-yard run with 6:49 to play in the fourth, making it 28-6.
Worthington’s first half score was set up by a blocked punt. The Cards took over in Alder territory, moved the ball deep into Pioneers territory and tailback Tony Harvard scored on a 1-yard run with :50 to play in the half. Alder blocked the extra-point attempt to make it 6-0.
The first half saw the Pioneers squander multiple scoring chances. The defense gave the team a prime opportunity early in the first quarter when it stood tall and forced a turnover on downs on Worthington’s first possession at the Cardinals 35-yard line.
But Alder couldn’t advance the ball past the Worthington 18-yard line and senior kicker Nick Smith just missed wide on a 35-yard field goal attempt.
The Pioneers forced Worthington quarterback Danny Gordon to fumble on the Cards next possession, which was recovered at the Cardinals 46 by Alder’s Derek Parker. But once again the offense was unable to capitalize as it was forced to punt despite starting on the plus side of the field.
