In a game that included an unconventional touchdown play for both teams, the Jefferson West Tigers turned a late Nemaha Valley miscue into a drive for the game-winning score with less than a minute to play for a 26-21 win.
The win improved West’s record to 3-2 with one game left before district play begins, and marked the Tigers’ first win over the Raiders since 2003. The teams weren’t that far apart in performance as West gained 348 yards on offense compared to 323 for Nemaha Valley. The difference came down to the Raiders committing two turnovers to West’s one.
The Raiders grabbed the early momentum as they forced a three-and-out on the first Tiger possession and then blocked the punt with West recovering the ball at the Tiger 35 and turning it over on downs. Four plays later, senior Jacob Nordhus took the ball into the end zone from 13 yards out to make it 7-0 Raiders with the extra point.
West ground out a scoring drive on the next possession as the Tigers went 63 yards in 13 plays, including a conversion on fourth-and-short, as junior running back Ethan Mumaw scored on a 5-yard run to tie it at 7 with the extra point by senior Alex Baker.
West was driving again early in the second quarter, and the possession culminated in a 5-yard Mumaw touchdown run. Baker added the extra point to make it 14-7 Tigers with 8:12 to play in the half. Nemaha Valley would have an answer, though, as senior quarterback Dane Brinker and junior wideout Kevin Burdiek connected for a 48-yard gain and junior running back Keegan McKernan would score on a 1-yard run to cut it to 14-13 as McKernan’s extra point try fell short.
The Tigers got the ball back with 2:42 to play in the half and a 22-yard run by freshman fullback Cylus Tichenor got West a chunk of yardage. Baker found senior wideout Austin Siess for an 18-yard gain to take the ball to the NV 42, and West would take a timeout with 22 seconds left and facing a second-and-16 at the Raider 38. The resulting play was a big one as Baker found senior wideout Tim Rhodd open on a hook pattern along the left sideline, but Rhodd lateraled the ball to Siess, who took it the rest of the way for a 38-yard score to make it 20-13 West with 12 seconds left in the half.
The score would hold at halftime. Both teams stalled on their first drives of the second half as a 42-yard Brinker run resulted only in the Raiders turning the ball over on downs at the West 18, and West picked up one first down before punting the ball away.
The Raiders would drive 57 yards on the ensuing possession. The key play came on fourth-and-3 at the West 23 as Brinker threw a deep pass to junior back Thomas Enneking, who fell down but managed to come up with the catch from the ground in the end zone to cut it to 20-19. Brinker found McKernan on a pass for the 2-point conversion to make it 21-20 Raiders with 11:14 left in the game.
West would drive 59 yards to the Nemaha Valley 30 on the next possession only to see a fumbled pitch recovered by the Raiders at their own 33 with 6:08 to play. The Raiders converted a fourth down as the clock ticked down, but McKernan fumbled a pitch on the next play and West junior Clint Lee fell on the ball at the Raider 44 with 3:31 to play. A 14-yard Mumaw run gave the Tigers a first down at the Raider 23 and Siess broke free for a 12-yard run to get the ball to the 10 with 1:26 to play. On third down at the 6, Mumaw came through with a touchdown run to make it 26-21 West as the 2-point conversion attempt was unsuccessful with 37 seconds to play.
The Raiders ended up getting only two plays as a Brinker pass fell incomplete and another pass on second down was intercepted by a diving Mumaw at the Raider 47 with 28 seconds to play. The Raiders tried to stay alive by using their timeouts but Mumaw ran for a 28-yard gain on third-and-long to put the game away for the 26-21 win.
Mumaw finished the game with 29 carries for 173 yards and three touchdowns and also had 2 catches for 14 yards. Tichenor had 12 rushes for 55 yards, and Baker was 7-for-9 passing for 95 yards and a score. Siess had 4 catches for 63 yards and a score.
The Raiders were led by 13 rushes for 91 yards by Brinker and 12 rushes for 83 yards by Nordhus. Brinker was 5-for-9 passing for 106 yards, a score and an interception.
Tigers coach Steve Johnson said he was happy to see his team’s resilient effort Friday to get them over a .500 winning percentage at 3-2.
“Our focus all year has been to try to get them to play harder,” Johnson said. “They stood up and played tonight. Mumaw is a horse, and he was strong for us tonight. He was mad at himself for that fumble but kept his head in the game and made a couple big plays.
“I’m glad to see us making plays through a full game. Nemaha Valley’s a good team. It’s nice to see us have some bad things happen but come back and get the win.”
