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Two late safeties do in TL in close loss to Tam
by John Swartz of the Marin IJ | 11/07/2009
In a game dominated by the offenses, it was defense and special teams that ended up making the difference.
With two safeties in the fourth quarter, the four points turned out to be just enough for the Tam High football team to squeak by Terra Linda in a 30-29 MCAL matchup in Mill Valley on Saturday.
The first safety followed a Trojan fumble in the end zone on a play in which quarterback Dan Higgins faced outside pressure from Tam's front four leaving him no room to escape. The Trojan signal caller dropped the ball about a yard deep in the end zone, and the ball squirted out the back as the teams fought for control.
The second safety, which came with 1 minute, 48 seconds left in the contest, was the result of a too-high snap on a punt play.
"I almost cried," Tam's overjoyed running back Bobby Burton said.
But as the safety was the final - and only - nail in the TL coffin, it was Burton's consistent ground gains that put his team in that position.
The senior carried the ball just eight times in the first half, but finished the contest with 26 rushes for 174 yards.
Though Burton was more effective in the second half, Tam coach Kevin Goyer said it had little to do with any halftime tactical changes.
"Things just started working a little bit better," the coach said. "We just turned it up a notch. We didn't make too many adjustments. We just tried to play tougher football."
From the start, both teams' offenses moved the ball with ease.
Terra Linda (4-5, 2-3) took the opening kickoff and marched right up with field behind Higgins' 4-for-5 passing for 50 yards, which concluded with a 4-yard scoring strike to Adam Griffith.
Tam (4-2, 7-2) answered about 90 seconds into the second quarter when Burton turned what appeared to be lost yardage into a 21-yard touchdown run that featured two field reversals and about a dozen missed tackles.
The play, which ended with Burton slipping into the end zone while tight-roping the left sideline, took 20 seconds.
"That ... was simply amazing," Goyer said of Burton, who scored twice Saturday.
Terra Linda went back to the air, and Higgins found Griffith again about two minutes later.
When Tam quarterback Alex Ritchie hit Jack Hogan with less than a minute to play in the second quarter, Burton's 2-point run tied the game going into halftime.
Higgins threw his third and fourth touchdown passes on day in the third quarter - with the final coming as time expired - and the Trojans had their noses in front going into the final period.
Tam, meanwhile, kept pace with another Burton touchdown and a passing score on which Ryan Hall took the ball following a hitch pattern for a 46-yard rumble to the end zone. The only points in the fourth quarter were the two safeties, as the Trojans watched their slim lead slowly evaporate.
"We thought we had it," Terra Linda coach Tim Bosque said. "We made some mistakes at the end ... this is going to be a tough one for our kids, our coaching staff. It's going to sting for a while.
"We're frustrated. It's a frustrating game for us."
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