St. Cloud Bulldogs Fall Short in Last-Second 27-25 Football Thriller

By: J. Daniel Pearson

Statistically, it looked like it could have been a rout.

St. Cloud had a fumble, missed two extra points, had some key penalties and watched as Ridge running back Lavonski Tubbs run around, over and through its defense for 241 yards and four touchdowns.

Still, in the closing seconds, the Bulldogs still had a chance to win the game but saw those chances evaporate when Daniel Elizando’s 37-yard field goal attempt sailed wide left in St. Cloud’s 27-25 loss Ridge Community on Wednesday night.

While the mistakes were big, it was the running of Tubbs that made the real difference in the game. The fast, powerfully built tailback rushed for 241 yards and four touchdowns on 33 carries and also broke off a 54-yard kickoff return for good measure to account for almost 300 all-purpose yards.

“He was the real difference maker, that guy is a Dude, plain and simple he’s a Dude,” Short said. “When we watched their game film, I knew he was going to be a problem for us. And all night long it seems like it took three or four defenders to get him on the ground.”

Despite the running of Tubbs, the game would come down to the final minutes.

With St. Cloud trailing 27-19, quarterback Logan King would direct a three-play 55-yard drive that was capped off with a 24-yard touchdown pass to TJ Griffin. Down by two with 7:38 remaining, St. Cloud elected to go with for the single PAT, but Elizando’s kick sailed wide left.

“There was still a lot of time left in the game and we decided not to chase points,” St. Cloud coach Mike Short said. “The feeling was we would have plenty of time to get the ball back and win the game with a field goal or touchdown.”

It almost didn’t happen, though.

A long kickoff return set Ridge up on its own 44. Quarterback Amire Hall would then lead the Bolts on a time-consuming, 11-play drive to –running more than five minutes off the clock. But on a third and 13 from the St. Cloud 21, the Bulldog defense would jar the ball loose from running back Chop Black and Landon Millman would recover on the 15 with just over two minutes remaining.

King would hit Griffin for 27 and 24 yards to the Ridge 30. An off sides penalty and a completion to Stacy Taylor pushed the ball to the 25. But following an injury to a Ridge player, officials started the clock and St. Cloud was late getting into formation. King would lose six yards on a sack and a draw play gained just eight yards to the 19. St. Cloud was forced to burn its last timeout and Elizando’s game-winning attempt sailed right.

“We put ourselves in position to win the game. There was a little confusion after the injury and we should have been up on the ball ready to snap it. It would have been nice to get another play off and try to get closer or score,” Short said. “That aside, we still had a chance to win the game. The kick was definitely in Daniel’s range, unfortunately he just missed it.”

Both teams scored in the first quarter and both missed extra points to make it a 6-6 game after one. St. Cloud would drive down to the Ridge 12 in the second period, but three plays netted just two yards and the Bulldogs were force to settle for a 28-yard Elizando field goal — taking its only lead of the night, 9-6.

Tubbs would carry eight times on the next drive, capping it with a 2-yard touchdown run to make it a 13-9 game, but Elizando made it a one-point game at the half – hitting from 37-yard out after a false start penalty stalled a Bulldog drive at the Ridge 12.

Tubbs would assert himself on Ridge’s first possession of the third quarter. After a 40-yard run by Black, Tubbs broke off back-to-back 20-yard runs as Ridge built the lead to 20-12. St. Cloud would cut the gap to 20-19 on an eight-yard touchdown pass from King to Stacy Taylor.

After the touchdown, however, St. Cloud was called for a taunting penalty and when Elizando’s kickoff from the 25 flew out-of-bounds, the ensuing procedure penalty gave the Bolts the ball on the 50-yard line. On the first play from scrimmage, Tubbs broke through the right side and ran untouched for the score and a 27-19 lead.

Still the Dogs would rally again.

A Josiah Cotto kickoff return gave St. Cloud the ball at midfield. King hit Springs on a 23-yard pass and one play later King found a wide-open Griffin in the right corner of the end zone for a touchdown.

King, Griffin and Springs all posted big offensive numbers for the Dogs. King completed 18 of 37 on the night for 321 yards. Springs caught five for 110 yards and a score and also had a 71-yard run; while Griffin caught nine passes for 148 yards and added 38 yards rushing. “If that ends up being the last game of their careers, they all came up big tonight,” Short added. “Alex Springs has been hampered with a leg injury for a month and still made big play after big play. I’m really proud of the effort all those guys gave tonight.”

It remains to be seen if the loss will hurt St. Cloud’s playoff hopes. The Bulldogs entered the game ranked eighth and in the final playoff spot for Class 7A, Region 3. County rival Tohopekaliga (5-4) and Olympia (4-6) were ranked right behind St. Cloud. Olympia’s regular season ended last week; while Tohopekaliga can pick up a sixth win on the season tonight (Thursday) against East River. The final computer rankings will come out Friday, with the top eight ranked teams in each region making the playoffs.

“We certainly could have locked the playoff spot up with a win tonight, unfortunately we came up short. It’s hard to say what the final rankings will be, but I would hope our head-to-head win over Tohopekaliga will keep us ahead of them,” Short noted. “It’s just going to be a wait-and-see thing”

Score by Quarters

Ridge Community 6 7 14 0—27

St. Cloud 6 6 7 6—25

First Quarter

RC: Lavonski Tubbs 2 Run (Kick Failed); 7:22

SC: Alex Springs 20 pass from Logan King (Kick Failed); 6:13

Second Quarter

SC: Daniel Elizando 28 FG; 6:05

RC: Suggs 3 Run (Giovanni Quinones kick)

SC: Elizando 37 FG; 0:56

Third Quarter

RC: Suggs 20 Run (Quinones kick); 9:40