Story By – JESSE JAMES

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The starting units for The #2 Tigard Tigers (9-1) found themselves on the sidelines for the second half of a 67-35 home field victory over the #20 Reynolds Raiders (5-5) in the first round of the 2012 OSAA state tournament, after posting 54 unanswered points in the first half.

The main threat for the Tigers was senior running/defensive back Zach Floyd, who finished the game with 256 yards rushing and 3-touchdowns on 8 carries including a 98 yard touchdown run. Floyd complimented his ground attack with another 76 yards receiving and added an interception on defense, after Raider quarterback Josh Schleining repeatedly passed in Floyd’s direction.

The impressive numbers by Floyd came from patient running, which allowed the offensive line to set up holes for Floyd to exploit.

“I think this is their best game of the year” Floyd stated about his offensive line “almost everytime I touched the ball there was holes and cutbacks everywhere.”

The running attack of Floyd was complimented with the solid passing attack by Tigers junior quarterback Jett Even. The Tigers young quarterback missed a few open passes but made the compleations needed to force the Raider defense to honor Tigard’s passing attack.

Even finished the night passing for 185 yards and added 2 touchdowns before sitting the second half.

It was not just the offense starting unit that got to rest through the second half, the defense found itself watching from the sideline as well, after the Tigers forced 4 first half turnovers.

Out of the half, the Tigers defensive second unit did find itself giving up more yardage but found a way to force another 2 turnovers against the Raiders.

Reynolds did find a way to end the season with some momentum after posting 35-points in the second half.

Much of the Raiders second half success was due to Schleining, who finished the game with 378 yards and 3 touchdowns on 36 of 57 passing. However despite the nice numbers by Schleining, it was the 4 interceptions he threw that brought the Raiders night to a halt.

The Tigers started this season with a three-headed monster at the running back position featuring seniors Floyd, Kaz Greene and Benny Wick but now the Tigers are likely to enter the second round with just Floyd remaining at the position.

With wick already out of the lineup coming into the first round of the playoffs, the Tigers planned on sharing the load between Floyd and Greene but found that those plans will have to change as well, after an injured to Greens’s left arm on his first carry against the Raiders.

“I played with a lot of heart tonight” Floyd said about his inspired performance “my man Kaz Greene went down and we don’t know what is really going on with him. He’s at the hospital, so I really wanted to come out and play well.”

Greene’s lone Rush went for a 14 yard gain; after being tripped up, Raiders defensive lineman Brygham Abbott came into solidify the tackle but landed awkwardly on top of Greene.

By the start of the third quarter Greene was in street clothes and junior Manu Rassmussen filled his shoes with 43 yards and 2 touchdowns on 4 carries.

The Tigers will kick off the second round of the playoffs next Friday at home versus the #15 Canby Cougars (6-4).

Story By – JESSE JAMES

nwpreps.net