SEASON ENDING WIN … Evergreen’s Max Mossing tight ropes the sideline while two Panthers try to bring him down. (PHOTO BY JACOB KESSLER / THE VILLAGE REPORTER)
By: Jesse Davis
DELTA (October 20, 2023) – When Evergreen clashed with Delta at Panther Stadium on Friday, both teams came in with a 3-6 record, both owned one quarter while going scoreless the other three, and both tallied double-digit penalties, but when the smoke cleared it was the Vikings that took home the final victory in their last game of the regular season.
The Panther defense started the game strong, forcing a three-and-out that saw a fumbled handoff on the first play and a subsequent sack of Vikings quarterback Bryce Bolger for a negative-yardage drive prior to a punt fair caught by Delta on their own 48-yard line.
In their own drive, Delta quarterback Justin Ruple picked up 13 yards himself in the first set of downs before working with junior Carl Warner Jr. and junior Landon Lintermoot to get to the Viking 21-yard line before being stymied on a fourth-and-three attempt and turning it over on downs.
Evergreen looked to be headed for the endzone shortly after, when Viking junior Max Mossing ran for 37 yards to the Delta 38-yard line.
The next play looked to put them inside the 20, but a holding penalty brought them back to the 39 and they were unable to recover, with a sack by Panther sophomore Carter Mitchell and a tackle by senior Ronnie Wyse for a loss of 14 brought the drive to an end.
The Panthers started off their next drive with an immediate 10-yard run from Justin Ruple then four straight runs from Lintermoot taking them to the Viking 19-yard line to end the first quarter.
After a brief setback with a false start, a personal foul against Evergreen brought the Panthers to the 2-yard line.
A one-yard run from Warner Jr. was followed up by a touchdown run from Justin Ruple. A missed extra point from junior Brodey Roth kept the score to 6-0.
After returning the kickoff to the Delta 46-yard line, the Vikings started putting together a successful drive despite picking up their own false start flag, aided in part by the Panthers picking up their own personal foul.
In their last set of downs starting on the Panther 17-yard line, however, the drive fell apart. An incomplete pass was followed by a one-yard loss and another incomplete pass before sophomore Kalob Limpf slipped while attempting a field goal, turning the ball over at the 18.
Delta struggled on their next drive, only putting together 15 yards of progress across six plays (including a penalty for intentional grounding) before punting it away.
Evergreen tried to capitalize with a 26-yard run from Mossing, but just two plays later Mossing would fumble the ball and Panther sophomore Tyler Ruple was able to recover and run 51 yards to the Viking 14-yard line.
Five short plays later, Justin Ruple made his second one-yard touchdown run, but another failure – this time in a two-point conversion attempt – would leave the score at 12-0 at the end of the first half.
The Panthers got the ball back to start the second half, but the possession ended in a punt. The Vikings would go three-and-out, but catastrophe was averted when a dropped backward pass picked up by the Panthers was instead ruled incomplete by officials, a call which drew anger from the home crowd.
Their ire would be renewed immediately after the Viking punt, when Justin Ruple appeared to be down before losing the ball, but it was ruled a fumble, recovered by Evergreen.
The Vikings would again go three-and-out, turning the ball over on their own 35 after multiple Panthers found Bolger in the backfield. Delta returned the favor with another four and out, punting it to their own 46.
Evergreen managed to run seven plays before turning the ball over again, taking flags for a false start and pass interference before punting.
Delta again went three-and out-while crossing into the final quarter, but this time the Vikings were able to take advantage of the moment, with senior Riley Dunbar making a massive 56-yard punt return for a touchdown. A successful extra point put them on the board at 12-7.
Delta picked up a pair of penalties on their next drive, for holding and an illegal shift, eventually punting on fourth and 12.
The Vikings seemed poised to score again after two plays put them on the 11-yard line, but two consecutive false starts led to an eventual incomplete pass on fourth and eight, turning the ball over on the 10.
The Panthers immediately caught a flag for a false start before going three-and-out, punting again.
Dunbar’s 16-yard return brought them to the 24, setting Evergreen up for two sets of downs ending with an 11-yard touchdown run by junior Colton Robertson and a successful two-point conversion, putting the Vikings up 15-12.
Delta made a valiant attempt to make the most of the remaining 1:19, but were unable to make it into scoring range, turning the ball over on downs at the Viking 47 with :25 left, ending the game.
EHS DHS
First Downs 9 8
Rushing Yards 31-69 42-162
Passing Yards 99 23
Passing 13-20-0 2-11-0
Total Yards 168 185
Fumbles-Lost 1-1 1-1
Penalties 9-69 9-40
EVERGREEN 0 0 0 15 – 15
DELTA 0 12 0 0 – 12
D – J Ruple 1-yard run (kick failed)
D – J. Ruple 1-yard run (conversion failed)
E – Dunbar 56-yard punt return (Mossing kick)
E – Bolger 10-yard pass (conversion good)
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS:
RUSHING: Evergreen – M. Mossing 13-86; Delta – Lintermoot 15-79, J. Ruple 18-73; PASSING: Evergreen – Bolger 12-17-0-97; Delta – T. Ruple 2-9-0-23; RECEIVING: Evergreen – L. Vance 2-20; Delta – Flores 1-14
Jesse can be reached at jesse@thevillagereporter.com