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Magnolia’s Defense Steps Up in Victory

Beisel Runs for 113, Barnes Tallies 96 vs. Tyler

Photo by Kristin Mazgaj Magnolia’s Jason Beisel runs the ball during Friday’s game against Tyler Consolidated. He rushed for a team-high 113 yards for the Blue Eagles.

NEW MARTINSVILLE — Defensive players live for goal line stands in the fourth quarter.

Magnolia’s defense delivered a crucial one at the goal line on Friday night — stopping rival Tyler Consolidated on fourth-and-goal at the 1-yard line with 4:10 to play.

They weren’t done. The Blue Eagles’ defense stood tall once again at midfield to stop the Silver Knights on downs with less than a minute to play as Magnolia ended a three-game losing streak with a 22-14 triumph at Alumni Field inside Bill Stewart Stadium.

On the final drive, Magnolia’s Austin Stillwagoner, Dakota Leek and Joseph Dawson recorded a sack on third down and Issac Keller rushed the QB on fourth down to force the incompletion.

Stillwagoner recovered a fumble earlier in the game and Keller tallied a tackle for loss.

“I told the boys after the game, I’ve coached here a long time and have been around a lot of high school football and that was as good of a defensive stand that you’re going to see at any level,” Magnolia coach Dave Chapman said. “Tyler is a good football team and I don’t care what their record is. I knew we were in for a fight and I tip my hat to them.

“We needed a win awfully bad and that stop at the end was just our guys refusing to let them score and refusing to lose.

“The guys came together on that last drive.”

Running backs Jason Beisel and Marcus Barnes ran for 113 and 96 yards, respectively in the victory. It was Barnes’ and quarterback Silas McKeever’s first game back from injuries, which caused them to miss the last several games.

“Having Barnes and McKeever back is huge,” Chapman said. “We haven’t had that in three weeks. Marcus is a tough guy to get to the ground and he had a good week of practice.

“I thought he played with a little more energy because his grandfather flew in from Florida to watch him play.”

His grandfather’s presence was certainly in Barnes’ mind throughout the game.

“That was pretty big,” Barnes said. “I ran hard for him every time and it felt great doing that. It feels great to be back on the field. Waking up early every day to go to physical therapy was a pain but it was worth it in the end. It was nice to get the victory my first time back.”

Magnolia got the action started after the Tyler punter went to the ground to corral a bad snap — giving the Blue Eagles the ball on Tyler’s 35-yard line.

McKeever found Gavin Postlethwait for a 35-yard touchdown strike to secure the early 6-0 lead.

In the second quarter, Tyler jumped out in front on a 1-yard TD plunge from Case Landis. The score was set up by a 33-yard screen pass from QB Trenton Huffman to running back Hunter Throckmorton.

Throckmorton ran in the 2-point try to give the Knights an 8-6 edge with 5:34 left in the half.

Beisel took over the remainder of the first half.

First, he darted 28 yards down field to set up his own 9-yard touchdown jaunt to retake the lead at 12-8.

Then, Beisel went up to snag an interception, which led to a Brendan Mirandy field goal as time expired in the half with Magnolia leading 15-8.

“Beisel picks that off and Mirandy hit a clutch field goal that gave us a little momentum going into the half,” Chapman said. “He does a good job of kicking and coach (Eric) McKeever does a good job with special teams.

“As the game played out we were up by eight but if he would have missed that we’d have only been up five and that could have really changed the play-calling for both teams.”

After a scoreless third quarter, Tyler’s defense came up with a goal line stand of it own in the fourth, forcing a fumble at the 1-yard line.

Throckmorton took advantage as he raced 92 yards to paydirt on the next play to pull the Silver Knights within 15-14 with 9:02 to play.

“The guys played their hearts out,” Tyler coach Ryan Walton said. “Hunter Throckmorton — I can’t say enough about what he did and he wasn’t the only one. Jacob America played a whale of a game. We had opportunities and didn’t get it taken care of. That’s part of it. Sometimes you come out on top and sometimes you don’t.

“Magnolia did a good job and made plays when they had to and we didn’t.”

Beisel put the finishing touches on his explosive day with a 49-yard touchdown run on the ensuing possession to give Magnolia the 22-14 advantage.

“It was a total team effort and I’m just happy for the guys,” Chapman said. “(Friday) we put together four quarters and I’ll sleep well tonight.”

Throckmorton finished the day with 170 yards on the ground to lead the Silver Knights.

“The effort was there,” Walton said. “I’m tickled to death with our guys’ effort. They’ve come a long way. We’re playing as a team and hopefully we’ll keep doing that and things will get better.”

Magnolia 22, Tyler Consolidated 14

Tyler Consolidated 0 8 0 6 — 14

Magnolia 6 9 0 7 — 22

M — Postlethwait 35 pass from McKeever (run failed), 4:54.

T — Landis 1 run (Throckmorton run), 5:34.

M — Beisel 9 run (run failed), 2:30.

M — Mirandy 26 field goal, 0:00

T — Throckmorton 92 run (run failed), 9:02

M — Beisel 49 run (Mirandy kick), 7:54

Rushing: Tyler Consolidated 37-214-2td (Huffman 20-52, Throckmorton 13-170-td, Landis 3-4-td); Magnolia 39-211-2td (McKeever 8-1, Beisel 11-113-2td, Barnes 19-96, Powell 1-1).

Passing: Tyler Consolidated 4-14-74-x (all by Huffman); Magnolia 3-8-80-td-x (McKeever 3-7-80-td-x, Mirandy 1-2-5).

Receiving: Tyler Consolidated 4-74 (Walton 3-41, Throckmorton 1-33); Magnolia 3-80-td (Postlethwait 2-52-td, Vargo 1-5, Mirandy 1-33).

First Downs: Tyler Consolidated 8; Magnolia 15.

Penalties-Yards: Tyler Consolidated 9-85; Magnolia 7-45.

Fumbles-Lost: Tyler Consolidated 1-1; Magnolia 1-2.

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