PIQUA — It wasn’t easy.

But, the Tippecanoe football team came away with a 28-13 win after a close battle with Piqua Friday night at Alexander Stadium/Purk Field.

Tipp, 3-1 overall and 3-0 in the MVL, will find first place on the line Friday night when it hosts unbeaten Troy.

Piqua, 0-4 overall and 0-3 in the MVL, will travel to Greenville Friday night.

Tippecanoe got on the board on its second possession.

An interception by Andrew Oen gave Tipp the ball at the Piqua 38-yard line.

On the next play, Evan Liette took a handoff on a fake reverse and found a wide-open Maddox Sivon behind the Piqua defense.

The PAT kick was wide, leaving Tipp in front 6-0 with 8:50 remaining in the opening quarter.

Tipp made it 13-0 on its next possession.

The Red Devils went 47 yards in four plays.

Cael Liette had a 29-yard run down to the Piqua 10 and ran it in from two yards out two plays later. CJ Bailey’s kick made it 13-0 with 6:00 remaining in the opening quarter.

The defenses would stiffen and the score would remain the same until Piqua’s final drive of the half.

The Indians went 62 yards in 13 plays.

Quarterback Ky Warner converted third downs on the drive with passes to Tate Kuhlman, Garrett Brown and RayShawn Garrett.

With five seconds to go in the half, he found Garrett for a 13-yard touchdown and Josh Heath booted the PAT to make it 13-7 at the break.

On its first possession of the second half, Tipp put together a five-play, 55-yard drive.

Evan Liette would catch a short pass from quarterback Peyton Schultz and weave his way all the way to the end zone for a 38-yard TD.

Bailey’s kick made it 20-7 with 7:38 remaining in the quarter.

Tipp then put together a 10-play, 58-yard drive.

Schultz converted one third down on the drive with a pass to Jackson Davis and Trace Trent had an 11-yard run to give the Red Devils first-and-goal.

Cael Liette ran it in from six yards out and Schultz threw to Will Strong for the two-point conversion to make it 28-7 with 2:33 remaining in the third quarter.

The final score of the game would come from Piqua’s special teams.

Tipp fumbled a punt and Carson Hawk would scoot and score from 21 yards out. The PAT attempt failed and the game would finish with a score of 28-13.

Schultz would complete 14 of 18 passes for 125 yards for the Red Devils.

Evan Liette caught seven passes for 73 yards, while Cael Liette carried the ball 15 times for 89 yards.

Oen led the defense with 12 tackles.

Logan Bowling had 11 and Trent and Cael Liette had 10 each.

For Piqua, Warner completed 21 of 28 passes for 139 yards.

Kuhlman caught seven passes for 49 yards and Garrett caught four for 36 yards.

Jericho Burns led the rushing attack with 84 yards on 24 carries.

Gage Gambill led the defense with eight solo tackles and Derek Jones had six.

You can reach Sports Editor Rob Kiser at [email protected]