The St. Louis U. High football team fell just short of a huge comeback last Friday night against Timberland. Down 37-13 at the start of the fourth quarter, the Jr. Bills closed the score to 37-34 thanks to three touchdowns from junior Ryan Wingo, but the rally stopped there as the Jr. Bills fell to 0-2 on the season.  

The game was in Wentzville and the Wolves’ student section showed out in big numbers despite the rainy weather, which impacted the field of play throughout the game.

Timberland, led by dual threat senior QB AJ Raines, was coming off a huge victory against Liberty, and their momentum continued in the first quarter against the Jr. Bills. The Wolves scored a field goal and a touchdown on their first two drives, while the Jr. Bills struggled to generate offense. One bright spot was that senior tight end Zach Ortwerth saw the field for the first time this season after finishing up his rehab from shoulder surgery, appearing on special teams as the punter. 

After Timberland scored their second touchdown on a QB scramble by Raines to go up 17-0, the Jr. Bills responded with a methodical drive on which running back Kam Bailey saw multiple touches. With their back against the wall on a 4th and 5, SLUH handed the ball off to junior running back John Smith, who took it for a huge gain of 30 yards. This set up a 15-yard rushing touchdown by Wingo for SLUH’s first touchdown with seven minutes remaining in the first half.

After short possessions by both teams and some key stops from freshman defensive back Keenan Harris and senior linebacker Louis Kertz, the Wolves responded with a touchdown highlighted by a lengthy run by Raines, making it 24-7 with less than 90 seconds left in the half. 

“Even though we started slow, Keenan Harris was phenomenal,” said head football coach Adam Cruz. “He was our team leader in tackles and he really led our defensive effort throughout.”

But the Jr. Bills failed to run down the clock and had to punt, and then Timberlands returner was hit after calling for a fair catch, which resulted in a massive 30-yard penalty that set up yet another Timberland touchdown with less than 30 seconds left. The Jr. Bills left the field down 31-7, not what the team had hoped for or expected.

“It was a rollercoaster. I told the guys at halftime that some things didn’t bounce our way but that we had also dug ourselves a hole; we had three defensive penalties on third downs,” said Cruz. “We just needed to keep chipping away, which we did in the second half before running out of time.”

The Jr. Bills started off the second half trying to get Ortwerth initiated back into the offense, but to no avail as they failed to pick up a first down and punted. 

The Wolves wasted no time, quickly scoring another touchdown through the air to make the score 37-7 with just under 10 minutes remaining in the third quarter. 

The next drive saw SLUH take many shots downfield to Wingo which all fell incomplete, leading to a series of “Overrated” chants by the Timberland student section. But after a failed fourth down conversion, the Jr. Bills flipped the script.

The next Timberland possession saw them get stuffed up the middle with back to back big tackles by junior lineman Archie Carruthers. This forced the Wolves to go 3 and out with their first of many punts during the second half. 

The defensive spark from the defense carried over to offense as the Jr. Bills offense smelt blood in the water. Sansone started the drive with a pass to junior receiver Joseph Harris which was followed up by catches by both Wingo and sophomore tight end Landon Pace. On a third and 2, Sansone completed a pass to junior running back Nathan Gunn for a first down. Gunn came up big on the next few plays as he carried it in from 9 yards away for a touchdown to make the score 37-13 with a missed two point conversion. 

Being down three with less than two minutes left called for the first onside kick of the season, which unfortunately was recovered by Timberland, and SLUH’s defense locked in for the biggest possession of the game. A six yard loss helped the Jr. Bills force a three-and-out and they got the ball back a mere 26 seconds after scoring. Sansone came out firing with a long pass downfield to Harris which was followed by a 17-yard touchdown to Wingo in the corner of the end zone with a little less than 10 minutes on the game clock, making the score 37-21 with a completed two-point conversion to Harris. 

The Wolves could definitely feel the momentum shift as their offense came out rusty and punted again. Sansone and Wingo wasted no time getting back to the end zone. On a third and 10, Sansone completed a short pass over the middle to Wingo, who craftily dodged passed defenders on his way to the end zone right past the Timberland student section, shutting down any remaining chants. After a failed two point conversion, the Jr. Bills were down 10, 37-27, with 7 minutes left on the game clock.

After the past series of unsuccessful drives, the Wolves finally pasted together a somewhat successful drive downfield, capitalizing on the Jr. Bills’ aggressive press defense. With around 4 minutes left in the game, SLUH needed a big play. This came on an all-out blitz which saw the Timberland running back swarmed as freshman Jordan Taylor ripped away the ball and ran down the field into the end zone. The refs eventually called off the touchdown because of a penalty on the return but the fumble was upheld. 

“That strip by Jordan Taylor really changed the game,” said Cruz. “We need to keep finding guys like that who can keep making plays for us.”

The comeback was real as SLUH marched down the field, aided by a big completion to Bailey on a third and 3. A few plays later Bailey punched it in from one yard out, silencing the Timberland crowd and pulling the Jr. Bills within 3 points, 37-34, with 2:10 left on the clock. 

SLUH had no other option but to go for another onside kick which was recovered by the Wolves. Timberland was desperate to move the chains but came up short as the first play of the drive resulted in a six yard loss and a subsequent SLUH timeout to save time off the clock. The Wolves had a chance on a third and 15 but failed to pick up yardage as the wide open receiver dropped the ball, resulting in a final punt. 

After a spectacular defensive showing, the Jr. Bills had the ball at midfield with 1:30 on the clock and a chance to win their first game of the season. This opportunity fell short as on one of the first plays of the drive, Sansone threw a pass over the head of Harris into the hands of Timberland’s safety which ended the game as the Wolves were able to kneel out the final minute. 

“I’m proud of how we finished. We showed a lot of heart in the second half, it is something we can build on for future weeks,” said Wingo. “We have to just start faster. This is two weeks in a row that we’ve come out of the gate flat and we need to play well all four quarters for us to beat these teams.”

The Jr. Bills will travel west tonight to face off against MCC perennial powerhouse CBC. SLUH hasn’t beaten CBC in 17 years, and after starting the season 0-2, the Jr. Bills will need to build off of their last quarter of play against Timberland to pull an upset. 

CBC is coming off a blowout loss to East St. Louis, one of the best teams in the country, and will be looking for a bounce back win. The Cadets are led by senior running back Jeremiyah Love, a four star running back with a multitude of offers. To beat the Cadets, SLUH needs to play like they did in the fourth quarter of last week's game and try to limit the big-play factor of CBC’s offense.

“If we play how we played in the second half we’ll have a chance against anybody, but we have to do that from the very start,” said Cruz. “We’ve just got to find a way to start faster.”