Tri-City Titans slip past Noxon Red Devils, 52-27
It took three towns to beat the Noxon High Red Devils football team Friday night in Noxon, 52-27.
After a tight first quarter, the Tri-City Titans from the municipal co-op trio of Hobson, Moore and Judith Gap, cranked it up and rolled to a 52-27 win over the host Red Devils.
A harbinger of thing s to come may well have occurred during the Titans opening possession. That’s when the Titans Carter Derks hauled in a Noxon kickoff and bolted for the end zone on his way to a 70-yard return for a touchdown and a 6-0 lead.
Noxon regrouped quickly and put together a drive that would eventually end when junior running back Gage Hendrick powered into the end zone from one yard out, knotting the game with most of the first quarter yet to be played. A point after pass from quarterback Derreck Christensen to Cade VanVleet put the host team ahead 8-6.
Hendrick added another touchdown, this one an eight-yard burst that added to the Noxon lead later in the quarter. The PAT kicked failed leaving the Red Devils with a 13-6 advantage.
Before the whistle blew to end the opening quarter of play, the Titans took the lead when quarterback Heath Drivdahl founds Derks with a nine-yard touchdown toss. A successful PAT kick by Derks put the visitors ahead 14-13 as the first quarter came to an end.
The Red Devils, who were looking for their first win of the 2021 season, regained the lead in the early part of the second quarter when VanVleet, the Red Devils burly senior running back broke through Tri-town’s front line and nine yards later crashed into the Titan’s end zone to put Noxon back in front 19-14.
Hobson-Moore-Judith Gap struck back quickly as Rhett Patnode hauled in a 13-yard scoring pass that gave the Titans a 20-19 lead, one they didn’t relinquish the rest of the game.
Patnode scored again before the first half ended, this time on a tackle-shedding scoring run from 29 yards out, boosting the Titans to a 26-19 halftime advantage.
Early in the third quarter, Derks scored his second touchdown of the game when he raced across the goal line from 12 yards out to cap a Titans drive and put them up 32-19.
Hobson padded that lead in the early going of the final quarter when Colt Parker ran for a six-yard touchdown.
Showing they still had gas in the tank, the Red Devils followed that scored with one of their own on another VanVleet touchdown romp, this time from three yards out. At that point score stood at 38-27 in favor of the Titans.
Derks and the Titans answered that score a short time later when he scored from 11 yards out. He capped the game’s scoring before time ran out when he found teammate Ashton Deegan on a 34-yard passing touchdown.
The win squared the Titans season mark at 1-1, while Noxon fell to 0-2.
The Red Devils will be looking to break into the win column Friday when they travel to Sunburst.