Tigers outplay Cedarville

By Scott Loftis

SLoftis@cherryroad.com

Finishing drives has been a point of emphasis for Green Forest coach Greg Tibbitt throughout his tenure as the Tigers’ head coach.

Last Friday at Cedarville, the Tigers practiced what Tibbitt has been preaching.

Quarterback Isaiah Fraga threw a pair of touchdown passes to Izaak Merida and Ridge Gordon-Swofford ran for two touchdowns as the Tigers beat the Pirates 30-20.

The victory broke a four-game losing streak dating back to last season for Green Forest (1-2), which was coming off an open date after a 51-9 loss at Greenland on Sept. 2.

“It was good,” Tibbitt said. “It was good to get a win, for sure.”

The Tigers got a break early and took advantage. On the game’s third play from scrimmage, Cedarville lost the ball on a botched exchange between the center and quarterback and Green Forest’s Jesus Romero Castillo recovered at the Pirates’ 23. After a holding penalty wiped out what would have been an 18-yard touchdown run by Joel Salgado and pushed the Tigers back to the 28, Ridge-Swofford ran for 10 yards and Fraga threw to Salgado for a 4-yard gain to set up fourth-and-1 from the Cedarville 14. Ridge-Swofford converted, taking a delayed handoff and gaining two yards off left tackle. Two plays later, Merida lined up in the backfield, caught a short pass from Fraga and weaved through Cedarville’s defense for the first score of the game. The extra- point try was blocked, leaving the Tigers ahead 6-0 with 8:11 left in the first quarter.

Cedarville tied the score on a short touchdown run with 2:10 remaining in the quarter, but Green Forest responded with a 57-yard TD drive. Gordon-Swofford carried seven times for 47 yards on the nine-play drive, scoring on a 3-yard run with 9:26 left in the second quarter. Fraga passed to Merida for the two-point conversion to put the Tigers up 14-6.

Gordon-Swofford finished with 149 yards on 28 carries. “Ridge had a great game, and we really did a good job up front, too,” Tibbitt said. “(Cedarville) got to a point where they didn’t want to tackle him anymore. So, we were like, we’ll keep giving it to him until he gets tired.”

A bad snap from punt formation on Cedarville’s next possession gave Green Forest great field position at the Pirates’ 27, and the Tigers took advantage, converting a fourthand- 4 with a 15-yard completion to Salgado that moved the ball to the 6. Swofford scored from the 1 two plays later, then Salgado ran for the two-point conversion that made it 22-6 with 6:14 left in the first half.

Cedarville cut into the Green Forest lead with a touchdown and two-point conversion at the 2:11 mark but the Tigers responded again. Starting at its 37, Green Forest needed just three plays to score. Fraga hit Salgado for a 27-yard gain on first down, then passed to Braden Epperly for seven yards to the Cedarville 29. From there, Fraga found Merida streaking down the left sideline for a 27-yard touchdown that put the Tigers up 28-14 with 1:35 left in the half.

Fraga completed 11 of 19 passes for 170 yards and two touchdowns.

Green Forest extended its lead to 30-14 when a Cedarville snap from punt formation sailed over the punter’s head. The punter recovered the ball in the end zone but was tackled by Salgado for a safety.

Cedarville scored a touchdown with 2:25 left in the third quarter to cut Green Forest’s lead to 30-20, but neither team scored in the fourth quarter.

On Friday, Green Forest travels to Lincoln. The Wolves (2-1) are coming off a 31-28 loss at Mena but have scored 127 points in three games — including a 58-38 victory over a Greenland team that beat Green Forest 51-9 the following week.

“They’re really good offensively,” Tibbitt said. “They had 612 yards of offense against Greenland.”