The Todd Beamer Titans knew the run was coming.
Auburn Mountainview running back Bitner Wilson carried the ball all night, ripping off chunks of yards at a time. But as Wilson lunged for the end zone on fourth down with 20 seconds left in the game, he was stalled by Titan defender Alexx Schmidt.
Schmidt popped the ball out of Wilson’s arms and secured the fumble on the 1-yard line, assuring Beamer’s 10-3 win over Auburn Mountainview on Friday at Memorial Stadium.
The victory gives sole possession of first place in the 4A North Puget Sound League Olympic division to Todd Beamer (6-1, 5-0).
“Bitner was my guy,” Beamer rover Jayshayn Ware said. “He’s a big, physical back, obviously. We saw that tonight. But when you hit guys like that low, they’re going to go down. That’s what we did. We knew if we stopped Bitner we’d stop their offense. That’s what we did, and we got the win.”
Auburn Mountainview (4-3, 4-1) reached the Titan red zone five times throughout the night but was unable to punch in a touchdown.
The Titans struggled on the final drive of the night, allowing the Lions to march down the field in the final 1 minute, 30 seconds.
On third down inside the 7, Auburn Mountainview quarterback Talan Alfrey kept the ball for a 3-yard run before being tackled out of bounds, but Beamer was hit with a dead-ball penalty – placing the ball half the distance to the goal – but it didn’t result in a first down.
And it was Schmidt who came through for the Titans on the final play.
Wilson tested Beamer’s defenders all night, carrying the ball 26 times for 144 yards. Auburn Mountainview grabbed the early 3-0 lead when kicker Carlos Huizar punched in a 23-yard field goal after Beamer quarterback Colton Nelton fumbled a snap under center on the 40.
Dylan Alley tied the game later in the first quarter with 36-yard field goal. It remained tied until 6:06 in the third, when Titans’ running back Billy Vann carried the ball for a 5-yard touchdown run after the Lions fumbled deep in Beamer territory.
Todd Beamer heads to Auburn to take on the Trojans at 7 p.m. next Friday for another difficult matchup with a strong program.
“This was the goal,” Titans coach Darren McKay said. “To be in a position these last couple games and give the kids the chance to win their first North Puget Sound League championship in almost 30 years. So we’ve got Auburn coming up, who’s only got one loss. We’ve a a lot of games left with some teams that have a chance to knock people off. So you never know.”
