A touchdown late in the third period was just enough for the Chadron Cardinals in the battle with Alliance on Tuesdays. In a close contest played in Alliance, the guests broke a 6 all tie with a score in the third quarter then held on for a 14 to 6 win. The Bulldogs fell to 1 and 4 for the year. Chadron downed Alliance on September 21 in Chadron very easily but the game Tuesday was close throughout. Alliance’s lone score came early in the third on a 15 yard touchdown pass from Tripp Johnson to Israel Garcia.
A strong kick return by Bulldog Casyn Nelson on the opening play gave Alliance great field position. The play covered 21 yards and gave the hosts the ball at midfield. Solid running for Alliance’s James Scriven helped the Dogs garner a first down but a fourth down try was unsuccessful as Chadron gain the possession. It would take the Cards just a few plays to get on the board. A 63 yard TD run by Chadron made the score 6 to 0 with 3:16 on the clock. The period then concluded with an Alliance punt after three tries.
Both defenses were stout in period #2. Big tackles by Garcia and Scriven stopped the ensuing drive by the Cardinals. Starting on the 25, the Alliance offense came to life. A 14 yard pass by Johnson to Cormic Stark helped the Dogs gain a key first down. More yards were then picked up on 2 carries by Scriven as Alliance moved into Chadron territory. Unfortunately, the drive would stall and the hosts had to punt the ball back to Chadron. The final possession of the half came to a close with Stark breaking up a Card pass that kept the visitors off the scoreboard. At half, AMS trailed 6 to 0.
The Dogs started the second half with great efforts on both side. Alliance would force a Cardinal punt and began their first drive on the 42 yard line. The Dogs used three straight runs by Scriven to get close. Another pass to Stark, this one covering 10 yards got the Dogs inside the Cardinal 20. The drive culminated with a 15 yard touchdown from Johnson to Garcia that knotted the contest at 6 with 3:38 remaining in the period. Chadron answered with a scoring drive that began at midfield. A couple of big runs by the Cards that covered 32 yards plus an Alliance penalty moved the ball inside the 10. Chadron then took the lead on a 4 yard TD run with 56 second left in the quarter. The PAT was also good as the hosts surged ahead 14 to 6. Heading to the fourth, AMS was down by 8.
Alliance used the same formula in the final 8 minutes. Big gains by Scriven and a 12 yard pass to Stark gave AMS hope. The Dogs were eventually turned away on an unsuccessful fourth down play as the Cards took over possession. Chadron went to their run game that not only gained yards but took time off the clock. A big run of 13 yards put the ball inside the Alliance 5 yard. The Bulldog defense though remained strong with big tackles by Scriven and Remington Turman that denied any more Cardinal scores. Chadron was then able to get into victory formation and run out the remaining seconds. Final Chadron 14 Alliance 6
CHAD 6 0 8 0 14
ALL 0 0 6 0 6
The Dog’s season will come to a close on Saturday with a home contest against Mitchell.