Tippecanoe quarterback Larkin Thomas fires a pass downfield against Piqua at Tipp City Park Friday night.
Rob Kiser|Miami Valley Today
Piqua’s RayShawn Garrett heads upfield as Tippecanoe’s Riley Nicholls attempts to make a tackle and Max Deckard closes in.
Rob Kiser|Miami Valley Today
Tippecanoe’s Jackson Davis races down the field on a big play against Piqua.
Rob Kiser|Miami Valley Today
Piqua’s Caiden Thomas races towards the end zone as Ryan Kolb closes in.
Rob Kiser|Miami Valley Today
Piqua’s Jericho Burns finds running room as Tippecanoe’s Gavin Newburg grabs his jersey.
Rob Kiser|Miami Valley Today
TIPP CITY — The Piqua football team gave Tippecanoe a battle in the first half Friday night at Tipp City Park.
But, the Red Devils pulled away in the second half for a 35-10 victory.
Tippecanoe 4-0 overall and 3-0 in the MVL will travel to Troy Friday night.
Piqua, 1-3 overall and 1-2 in the MVL, will host Greenville Friday.
After a Tippecanoe three-and-out to start the game, Piqua took over near midfield and converted two fourth downs on the way to the end zone.
Jericho Burns ran for seven yards on a fourth-and-three play and on fourth-and-nine from the Tipp 34, quarterback Caiden Thomas threw a strike to Joey Voskuhl just beyond the chains to keep the drive alive.
Thomas found Noah Coleman for 14 yards and would complete the drive by running in in from the one-yard line.
Gavin Larger’s PAT kick made it 7-0 with 5:19 remaining in the opening quarter.
Tipp answered back quickly on a 49-yard, 3-play drive.
On third-and-two from the Piqua 41, Jackson Davis took a short pass from Larkin Thomas and took it all the way to end zone.
Owen Baileys PAT kick made it 7-7 with 4:32 remaining in the opening quarter.
Tipp took over at its own 35 with 2:55 remaining in the opening quarter.
The Red Devils had a 12-play drive.
Larkin Thomas found Davis for a 10-yard gain on the drive and Dylan Herndon for a 16-yard gain, while Xavier Melton had a 24-yard run.
On second-and-14 at the Piqua 18, Larkin Thomas found Davis in the end zone for a touchdown and Baileys PAT kick made it 14-7 with 34.6 seconds left in the quarter.
Piqua then put together a 14-play drive that started on its own 10.
Caiden Thomas had a 40-yard run down to the Tipp 12-yard line and Piqua would run four plays from inside the five-yard line without scoring.
After a holding penalty, Larger kicked a 30-yard field goal with 5:20 remaining in the half and the teams would go to the locker room with Tipp leading 14-10.
Tipp started the second half with a 3-play, 37-yard drive.
Max Strong caught a 31-yard pass from Larkin Thomas on the first play of the drive and Thomas would run it in from six yards out. Baileys PAT kick made it 21-10 with 8:57 remaining in the third quarter.
Late in third quarter, Tipp would score again.
Larkin Thomas completed a 32-yard pass to Strong and the two would hook up on a 27-yard pass to cap the drive. Baileys kick made it 28-10.
Tipp would score in the fourth quarter on a 1-yard run by Melton and Baileys kick made the final 35-10.
Larkin Thomas completed 16 of 23 passes for 204 yards.
Strong caught nine for 127 yards and Davis caught five for 80 yards.
Melton led rushing attack with 66 yards on 18 carries.
Collin Isaac had 14 tackles to lead the Red Devil defense, Max Howard had nine and Ethan Couch had seven.
For Piqua, Caiden Thomas completed 11 of 19 passes for 72 yards.
Noah Coleman had four catches for 31 yards and Drake Owen had three for 25 yards.
Thomas had 75 yards rushing on 16 carries and Burns had 64 yards rushing on 22 carries.
RayShawn Garrett led the defense with seven tackles and Zaydyn Allen had six.
Sports Editor Rob Kiser can be reached at [email protected]
