Fort Zumwalt East Survives to Clinch Playoff Berth

On Senior Night, played one of their best games of the season as they hosted . However, it still wasn’t enough.

Timberland fell by a final score of 42-35 as Zumwalt East clinched their third consecutive playoff berth.

“We knew we had an opportunity,” Fort Zumwalt East head coach Scott Eacret said. “We just put it on our seniors and said, 'Hey, you win, you’re in. If you want it, you’ll go out and do it.' It was that simple.”

The game was tight throughout, with both teams trading points and the largest lead for either side being eight points. Timberland had a shot at the endzone as time expired, but junior quarterback Ryan Bainbridge’s Hail Mary attempt came up about ten yards short of the goal line, was tipped, and then intercepted to seal the game for the Lions.

“X’s and O’s really didn’t matter tonight, it was about who wanted it more,” said senior wide receiver Tyler Shumaker. “I felt like we wanted it, we just didn’t get the bounces.”

The game ended on a Timberland turnover and that is also what caused the tides to turn against them as well. Late in the third quarter, it seemed like the Timberwolves had everything going their way.  Shortly after taking a 27-21 lead over Zumwalt East, Timberland forced the Lions to go three and out.

However, rather than maintaining the momentum, the Timberwolves then muffed a punt, which was recovered deep in their territory by the Lions and led to a touchdown for Zumwalt East.

On the following drive, Timberland turned the ball over again, this time on an interception that was tipped by Shumaker. The Lions again capitalized and turned the possession into a touchdown, building their largest lead of the game at 35-27.

“Turnovers hurt us because they capitalized on both of them,” Shumaker said.

The Wolves could have folded after allowing those two backbreaking touchdowns, but they came right back on the following drive to score a touchdown coupled with a successful two point conversion to tie the game at 35.

“My hat’s off to Timberland,” Eacret said. “They never gave up and it’s always a good game when we play them.”

In the fourth quarter, Zumwalt East regained the lead on a rushing touchdown on a drive with several big runs. The ground game was the staple for the Lions’ offense on Friday, as it seemed like they broke two or three big runs for each one that was halted for only a short gain or a loss.

Timberland had two more drives in the final seven minutes on which they could have tied the game, but the first drive stalled on fourth down at the Zumwalt East 42-yard line while the second ended on the previously mentioned interception which concluded the game.

 “We played pretty well tonight at times,” Timberland head coach Craig Collins said. “We just couldn’t get the big play at the right time to get over the top.”

Timberland will conclude its regular season next week at Holt, as the senior class will try and earn its third win of the year. Zumwalt East will now have off seventeen straight days before their next game due to a regular season bye in Week 10 and a first round playoff bye as district champions. The Lions had a similar break before the playoffs last season.

“That didn’t necessarily help us last year,” Eacret said. “That’s a little too long. But, all we can do is rest up and try and prepare our kids the best that we can and make the best of it.”