By Tim Schmidt Record Managing Editor A successful two-point conversion run proved to be the difference in a heartbreaking 44-42 overtime loss for the Wright City football team Friday night. The …
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Conversion run decides OT loss for Wildcats
Posted
By Tim SchmidtRecord Managing EditorA successful two-point conversion run proved to be the difference in a heartbreaking 44-42 overtime loss for the Wright City football team Friday night.The Wildcats amassed 462 total yards of offense, led by quarterback Andrew Pfuhl’s 377 passing yards and five touchdown passes, but failed to convert all seven two-point conversions in the Eastern Missouri Conference home game.The loss dropped Wright City to 3-3 overall and 2-2 in the EMO standings. The Wildcats are back home this Friday against Van-Far. Kickoff is 7 p.m.Mark Twain, ranked sixth in the Class 1 state polls, remains undefeated at 6-0 overall and 4-0 atop the conference standings.The visiting Tigers managed to survive despite losing leading 1,000-yard rusher Tyler Elledge to a shoulder injury in the first half. The senior running back had rushed for 108 yards on 11 carries and a touchdown before he exited.In Elledge’s absence, Brandon Hamilton and Terry Monroe rushed for 206 and 169 yards, respectively. Combined, they scored five touchdowns.Monroe scored the tying and game-winning touchdowns as well as both of the two-point conversion runs to complete the comeback.Wright City Coach Jeff Sargent questioned several calls made by the referees throughout the game, including a momentum-shifting play that was ruled a fumble to set up the game-tying score. He said a MSHSAA official called him Monday to apologize for the officiating.The Wildcats had possession with a little over a minute remaining in regulation and were holding onto a 36-28 lead. Pfuhl, the senior signal-caller, appeared to have thrown a forward pass on a screen play, but a referee said the pass was thrown behind the line of scrimmage.Mark Twain recovered the fumble and followed with a short scoring run and conversion from Monroe to force overtime.“It was clearly not a fumble,” Sargent said.“I watched the play from a couple of different angles. It was clearly a dropped pass. The guy on our sideline made the call. I don’t think he was looking at it.”Wright City scored first in the extra period on a 10-yard pass from Pfuhl to wide receiver Tyler Brittain. The conversion attempt fell just short as Pfuhl was ruled down just outside the end zone.Mark Twain answered with the touchdown and conversion runs from Monroe.The Wildcats trailed 20-18 at halftime, but stormed back with three scoring drives in the third quarter, including two touchdown receptions from senior wideout Troy Muse and a short touchdown run from DeRenzo Blanks.Muse had four of his seven receptions go for touchdowns as he also scored on 60- and 47-yard pass plays in the second quarter. He finished with 164 receiving yards, while Brittain had nine catches for 185 yards. Brittain also scored on an 80-yard kickoff return in the opening quarter.Blanks had nine carries for 47 yards and one touchdown.Defensively, Kyle Tuepker had a team-high 24 tackles, including 11 solo stops, and Austin Buchheit added 23. Jaime Malta and David Ortega contributed nine and eight tackles, respectively.“It is very difficult to say to the kids we have a loss,” Sargent said. “That game we did not lose, that game was taken away.”He doesn’t feel his team will have much trouble regrouping for this Friday’s conference game.“The only issue is we don’t have school on Friday,” Sargent remarked. “It breaks the routine a little bit. I’m not worried about getting them ready for the game, it’s homecoming for us. I’m worried about them trying to do too much. I need them to understand to do their job.”
Wright City quarterback Andrew Pfuhl threw for 377 yards and five touchdowns Friday. Tim Schmidt photo.
