Columbus East Tigers use Doomsday like defense to beat Vinton County 34-14

Tagged under: Beyond The Keystone, Game Photos, Gameday Hub, News

David Burnworth | October 29, 2022

On Friday night, I made another trip to Harley Field, home of the Columbus East Tigers, where they were set to play their first home playoff game against a very game Vinton County Vikings squad that came in a little beat up with injuries. In watching both teams go through warmups, you could tell both were ready for a hard-hitting clean game where the better team was going to come out.

The first big play in this one came with 9:13 left on the first quarter clock with CJ Swanson throwing down Gabe Raschke, holding the talented runner to just a one-yard gain. The Vikings defense would get their own big play when Dawson Brown and Owen Hire got to the dangerous Taz Burns for a short loss at the 2:53 mark of the first quarter. The fast-paced defensive first quarter would become a 6-point lead after Tre Lindsay found Swanson for a 20-yard touchdown pass with 2:20 left on the clock. Swanson would make the last big play of the quarter when he sacked #15 Parker Shoborn for a loss of three yards. I watched East three times this season and I.M.O. Swanson is a dominating player when he gets involved early. He was able to do this, and I believe it was one of the most important things East needed to do to get off to such a strong start, particularly on the defensive side of things. I asked head coach Mike Bell about the start for Swanson and how important it was, and he agreed with me that it was big for both Swanson and the team.

Burns, who many will say was the most talented skill position player on the field, but with 8:53 left in the half, would show he was human when he coughed the ball up and the multi-talented Hire pounced on it like a fat cat pouncing on a field mouse. Raschke would show he too is talented at running with the rock when he picked up 22 yards to help set up the Vikings’ first score. That came on a 15-yard touchdown catch by Garrett Brown, who had to power into the end zone after making the nice catch. Cooper Hayburn’s point after kick at 7:35 of the second quarter gave the Vikings a 7-6 lead.

Burns would rack up 22 yards with a nice catch and run on the nice soft pass from Lindsay. In my eyes, Lindsay not only had a nice touch on his passes in this one, but he seemed to grow up a lot as a quarterback with the way he handled things. I said as much to one of the East assistant coaches and he agreed. Burns took in another pass from his quarterback, picking up 13 yards. That was soon followed up with a 22-yard spring by Burns to put East up 12-7, a lead they would never give up.

The East defense, which would end up holding the Vikings to an unofficial 166 yards, came up huge when Kemua Woods-Law picked off the Viking pass with 3:06 left in the half. Woods-Law would show a glimpse of how dangerous he is on offense with a sweet 16-yard run. Brown would take down Burns for a short loss with a little over one minute left in the half. Burns would shake the negative playoff with a first down run on the fourth and two with 23.7 seconds left on the clock. The half ended with East inside the Vikings 5 yard line after an 18-yard completion from Lindsay to Solomon Vaughn.

Daequann Lindsay would recover a Vikings fumble with 8:34 left in the third quarter to put the dangerous Tigers offense back on the field. A 15-yard run from Burns and then a 13-yard run from Woods-Law set up the next Tigers score, which came on a 25-yard dash by Burns, who used a nice Walter Payton shake-and-bake move to get into the endzone. Lindsay would hit Vaughn for the two-point conversion, making this a 20-7 game with 2:54 left on the third quarter clock.

Woods-Law made a nice stop on Layne Haybron for a loss of two, and then an interception by Tre Lindsay put the East offense back on the field with 1:30 left in the quarter. Lindsay made a nice return after the pick to give the Tigers a first and ten over the Vikings. Burns would pick up 20 yards on the final big play of the quarter.

Just fifty-five seconds into the final frame, Burns scored on a 6-yard run that was followed by a two-point conversion pass from Lindsay to Vaughn to make this a 28-7 contest. The Tigers’ defense made quick work of the Vikings’ offense. After getting the ball back, Woods-Law would break a tackle and then go 52 yards for the score, making this a 34-7 game. Law has speed and power that many might overlook when first looking at him, but after seeing him, that goes away in a hurry. On the ensuing kickoff, there was a fumble, and the Tigers came up with the ball. I believe Marsean Bowles was the player who made the recovery. The Vikings’ defense would not allow anything to occur on the ensuing drive.

The Vikings, who never stopped playing in this one even with the outcome of this one all but decided, would get a 51-yard run from Haybron to set up the final touchdown of the game, which came on a 3-yard run by Shonborn. Hayburn ended the scoring in this one with his point-after kick to make the final score 34-14 East. Antwaun Reedus would break off a 36-yard run to end the big plays in the game.

This is the word for word what coach Bell had to say after the game during our little talk.
“Defense stepped up they challenged us physically and my guys accepted the challenge. CJ Swanson was a man amongst boys last night. Anthony shields and junior Breaston were animals too. Tai Burns what can I say he is one of the best players in the state as a sophomore, he HS a special kid, a power 5 football player. I have been around football a long time and one of the best I have ever coached, if he stays humble and hungry will be one of the best to do it in Ohio. I stamp that like the kids say lol. And don’t forget QB1 Tre Lindsey played tough with a bad ankle mast night love his leadership”.

Unofficial Stats

Vikings

43 plays

166 yards

Passing, 2-4, 1 TD, 2 Int’s

Tigers

56 plays

297 yards

Passing, 12-17, 1 TD

For all of the pics
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?vanity=DavidLewisBurnworth&set=a.10225972607976224