Last week, Tri-County was stunned by Big Rapids. It wasn’t that they saw no chance that the Cardinals, one of the area’ best Division 4 teams, could beat them, but rather how they beat them. The 63-6 defeat was a rout from the opening kick, in a game that Tri-County felt they could be competitive. This week, they aggrieved all of their set backs by dominating Newaygo 52-19.
In the opening seconds of this game, Tri-County pulled out the first play in their bag of tricks. A beautifully executed flea-flicker saw Jayden Button wide open for a game-starting 70-yard touchdown catch. Later in the quarter, Button ran the football 28 yards to give Tri-County a fast 14-0 edge.
The Vikings kept their foot on the gas in the second quarter, with Chase Keller ripping off two fast touchdown runs to push the lead to 28. Keller scored on runs of two and four yards out. Later in the frame, Grayson Butler used his legs for a 72-yard sprint to the end zone, and it was quickly 35-0 Tri-County.
Camden Reyburn would deny the Tri-County pursuit of a shutout first half, as he caught the football for a 24-yard touchdown.
Midway through the third quarter, the Vikings got their second half scoring started. Xavier Tagle booted a 37-yard field goal to push the lead back out to 31 points. Louis McAllister, a freshman for the Lions, would respond with a 7-yard touchdown run, trimming the lead to 25 points, 38-13, as the game entered its final quarter.
Grayson Butler put together an impressive scoring play early in the fourth, pairing up with Cade Hallman on a 60-yard touchdown strike. Chase Brooks added another score for the Vikings when his 1-yard touchdown run gave Tri-County 52 points. Newaygo would round out the scoring with a 71-yard touchdown pass.
Tri-County now sits at 4-1 on the season, and 2-1 in CSAA Gold play. They will take on Reed City next week, the hardest league game left on their schedule. Newaygo slides to 0-5 for the first time since 2015. The Lions will look to get right on Friday when they face Grant.
