NEW MADISON — It was just what Tri-Village football coach Robert Burk had envisioned when he took over the program four years ago.
The Patriots added another page to the record book in this historic season Friday night in D-VII playoff action at Tri-Village.
The Patriots, 7-0, defeated Cincinnati College Prep, 4-4 50-30 in their first-ever playoff game and advance to host Riverside Friday night in a regional quarterfinal game.
“It was the vision we had,” Burk, in his fourth season as coach of the young program, said. “The kids have put in all the hard work to make it happen.”
After a first half which saw Tri-Village leading just 20-14 — despite threatening to blow it open on several occasions — the Patriots came out of the locker room on a mission and quickly took control in the third quarter.
“We should have scored on every possession in the first half,” Burk said. “It was just mistakes and not executing. We were beating ourselves in the first half. So, we were ready to go in the third quarter.”
Tri-Village took the third-quarter kickoff and went 57 yards in 10 plays.
Quarterback Layne Sarver ran for 12 yards and Reed Wehr followed with an 11-yard run.
On first-and-goal from the 10, Sarver had perfect touch on a throw to Josh Scantland in the back of the end zone for the score. Sarver ran for the PAT to make it 28-14.
Justin Finkbine then had the second of four Patriot interceptions on the night, giving Tri-Village the ball on its own 36.
It took just one play to go the 64 yards. Sarver executed a quarterback draw to perfection and no one on the Lions could catch him. Sarver threw to Dylan Finkbine for the PAT and Tri-Village led 36-14 with 7:16 remaining in the third quarter.
“Layne (Sarver) is our guy,” Burk said. “Every time we needed a play tonight, he found a way to make it.”
CCP then put together a 57-yard drive.
On fourth-and-goal from the one, quarterback Mark Smith found the end zone, then threw to Donald Bailey for the PAT to get the Lions within 36-22.
But, that was as close as CCP would get.
Sarver added TD runs of five and nine yards, with Dylan Finkbine running for the PAT on the second score to make it 50-22 with 10:33 to go in the game.
Scantland and Sarver added interceptions in the second half as CCP couldn’t score again until late in the game.
Smith threw 10 yards to Rashawn Hammond for the score and also threw for the PAT for the final margin of 50-30.
“That kid (Mark Smith) is a heck of a player,” Burk said. “That is a tough offense to stop. Not a lot of D-VII teams have enough defensive backs to cover all their receivers. We were able to get some pressure on him {Mark Smith) and we were able to make some plays.”
The game started with neither team scoring on its opening possession, as Tri-Village’s drive was stopped by a fumble.
The Patriots went 75 yards on their next possession to get on the scoreboard.
Wehr had runs of 14 and 19 yards and Sarver completed a 15-yard pass to Dylan Finkbine.
That led to a six-yard TD run by Sarver to give Tri-Village a 6-0 lead.
Tri-Village took over at the Lions 42 on its next possession, after CCP turned it over on downs.
Five plays later, Sarver ran 28 yards for the score and Wehr ran for the PAT to make it 14-0 with 46 seconds remaining in the first quarter.
CCP struck back quick on an 80-yard, three-play drive.
Smith found Antonio Fitzgerald for 31 yards and two plays later, hooked up with Derrick Crutchfield on a 42-yard TD pass on the final play of the first quarter.
Smith threw to Bailey for the PAT and it was 14-8.
Tanner Printz had an interception for Tri-Village on the Lions’ next drive, but the Patriots could not capitalize.
Later in the second quarter, the Patriots went 80 yards in four plays.
Sarver ran 40 yards on the first play of the drive.
After a TD run was called back by holding, Sarver threw to Justin Finkbine for a 22-yard touchdown and the Patriots led 20-8 with 4:37 remaining in the half.
CCP would put together a 12-play, 59-yard drive to close the half — literally.
On fourth-and-goal from the three, Smith connected with Crutchfield for a TD with 8.7 seconds left in the half, leaving Tri-Village with a 20-14 halftime lead and plenty of motivation for a big second half.
Sarver had 167 yards rushing on 16 carries and completed 10 of 14 passes for 105 yards.
Wehr added 124 yards on 15 carries to the rushing attack.
Sarver connected with five different receivers on the night, with Scantland leading the way with four catches for 50 yards.
Smith rushed for 52 yards on 20 carries for CCP, while Raeshawn Clark had 42 yards on nine carries.
Smith completed 20 of 32 passes for 233 yards.
Bailey had five catches for 55 yards, while Crutchield had two catches for 45 yards and Fitzgerald had four catches for 43 yards.
Now, the Patriots get ready for a second straight home game.
“This is huge for our community,” Burk said.
Just like he envisioned it, four years ago.
