Please excuse the party in Sissonville.
Students stormed onto the field on Thursday night following the Sissonville football team’s 20-19 win over visiting Tolsia.
The Indians snapped a 21-game losing streak with a late defensive stand that allowed coach Michael Hughes’ team to run out the clock.
Hughes was the only one not in a partying mood following Sissonville's first win since the final game of the 2022 season.
“It’s a 24-hour rule,†said the 27-year-old Hughes, who's in his first year at Sissonville. “Feel great about it for 24, and then we’ve got to go 1-0 next week.â€
Trailing 7-0 at halftime, Sissonville (1-1) scored a pair of touchdowns in the third quarter to grab a one-point lead, added an insurance TD in the fourth period and rode its defense until the clock ran out.
Hughes didn’t take credit for the halftime adjustment that stymied Tolsia’s do-it-all sophomore Robert Evans.
Evans ran for 77 yards in the first half and then was held to 3 yards in the second half to help Sissonville rally for the win. Evans and Lokie Blackburn shared direct snaps in coach David Thompson’s scheme and pounded the Sissonville defense in the first half.
In the third quarter, it was a different story.
“They started keying on Robert, for one thing,†Thompson said. “They tried to stop our outside sweeps and they spied him pretty good.â€
Tolsia (0-2) was penalized 12 times for 85 yards and had two touchdowns negated by those infractions. Still, the Rebels had a chance to regain momentum in the contest.
After Sissonville scored on an 8-yard run by Kyson Stone to take a 20-13 advantage, a 2-point conversion attempt that would have made it a two-possession game failed.
On the ensuing kickoff, Tolsia’s Peyton Rice returned the kickoff 85 yards to put the Rebels within striking distance.
Thompson called a timeout before electing to try for a two-point conversion that would have put Tolsia back in front. Instead, a toss to the outside fell incomplete, leaving Sissonville with a 20-19 advantage.
The Indians defense faced one more Rebels possession before they forced Tolsia into a turnover on downs with 1:31 to play.
With only one timeout to stop the clock, Tolsia was helpless to stop Sissonville quarterback Maddox Balog from kneeling on the ball.
Sissonville will be home to play Scott next Friday. Tolsia will host Mount View in its home opener.
Balog threw for 71 yards, unofficially. The Sissonville QB completed 7 of 16 passes, including a third-quarter TD pass to Noah Evans that tied the game 7-7 at the 6:30 mark.
Tolsia regained the lead on a toss sweep from Blackburn to Evans, who found Elijah Ekers at the goal line. Ekers pulled in the pass with multiple Sissonville defensive backs around him to make it 13-7.
Sissonville blocked the extra point to keep the Rebels’ advantage at six with 3:01 to go in the third.
Malyki Holtzman’s 10-yard run capped the next drive for Sissonville and gave the Indians their first lead, 14-13, heading into the fourth quarter.
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Holtzman’s 12 rushes for 65 yards led Sissonville.
TOLSIA 0 7 6 6 -- 19
SISSONVILLE 0 0 14 6 -- 20
T – Jerrell 7 pass from Evans (Evans kick).
S – Evans 32 pass from Balog (Pascoe kick).
T – Ekers 27 pass from Evans (kick blocked).
S – Holtzman 10 run (Pascoe kick).
S – Stone 8 run (pass failed).
T – Rice 85 kickoff return (run failed).
T S
First downs 12 13
Rushes-yards 28-148 22-131
Passes 2-7-2 7-16-0
Passing yards 34 71
Total yards 182 203
Fumbles-lost 2-1 0-0
Penalties-yards 12-85 9-80
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: (T) Evans 15-80, Blackburn 9-50, Ekers 2-18; (S) Holtzman 12-65, Balog 5-43, Stone 5-23.
PASSING: (T) Evans 1-4-1, 7 yards; Blackburn 1-3-1 27 yards; (S) Balog 7-16-0, 71 yards.
RECEIVING: (T) Jerrell 1-7, Ekers 1-27; (S) Evans 2-31, Stone 1-4, Pritt 2-11.
