Indians put up fight, but fall to TA

FORT DEFIANCE — After defeating Robert E. Lee and Stuarts Draft, Turner Ashby added another victory on Friday night by ousting Fort Defiance 24-13.

The Indians fell to 1-6 on the season but fought to keep up with the Knights, but could not close the deal.

“I think we played better than they thought we would,” said Fort coach Dale Spitzer. “They are a volatile team, and we played very well. We are going to use this as a springboard and as a positive in our last three games.”

The Indians showed in the first quarter that they could bounce back after being behind. The Knights’ Alex Collins had a 36-yard touchdown and Jacob Trent’s kick gave the visitors the lead.

Fort came back to tie the game on Ryan Hutsenpiller’s touchdown at 6:22. After the kick, Fort was even. The Knights, on third-and-long, added another touchdown and the extra point for the 14-7 lead. In the second quarter, with the clock winding down the Knights were on the five-yard line.

The Indians’ Daniel Wright tackled Kyle Linn to hold the team back, but TA’s Gerry Casey added a field goal for a 17-7 lead with 2.6 seconds left in the half.

In the third quarter Chris Huffman connected to Hutsenpiller for an 86-yard touchdown to give the Indians a score 17-13 deficit.

“I was kind of afraid to play them,” Huffman said. “I think we showed that we can play competitively. I think as a team we did well against them.”

The Knights added another touchdown that deflated any enthusiasm the crowd or the team had late in the third.

“We did not make many mistakes tonight. We didn’t allow a lot of turnovers,” Spitzer said.