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Critical Defensive stand lifts Kish over Derry Decatur in Sunday Midget action

LEWISTOWN – Defense took center stage in the opening game of the second day of the Central Keystone Football and Cheerleading Championship weekend.

With its back against the wall and the Derry Decatur offense threatening close to its own end zone, the Kish Indians’ Midget team gathered together and kept the Cyclones out of the end zone as it held onto a 14-13 victory Sunday afternoon.

Going into the final stanza, the Indians were holding tightly to a 14-7 advantage.

But just seconds into the fourth, Tanner Rhine muscled his way into the end zone at 8:57 left, cutting the Indians lead to 14-13.

Derry Decatur went for the 2-point conversion and the Indians secondary forced an incompletion.

The Cyclones’ defense forced the Indians in a four-and-out, giving Derry Decatur a last chance to make one last scoring drive.

Starting with the ball at the Kish 37, the Cyclones on the legs of Rhine marched down the field and captured a 1st and goal on the six.

It was do or die time for both teams as the clock wound down to under 1:30.

Facing a 3rd goal on the nine, the Cyclones were stopped as the Kish defensive line stopped Christian Henry at the line of scrimmage forcing Derry Decatur to a fourth and goal at eight.

After an offsides penalty pushing Derry Decatur to the 13, the gave the ball to Rhine as he ran out around the left end, but the Indians were able to stand tall and push him out at the four, giving them back the ball with 41 ticks left.

From there, the Indians went into their victory formation and eventually ran out the clock.

Rhine did his part despite the loss, running for 96 yards on the ground.

The Kish offense got started early when Josh Maldonado broke free for a 41-yard run at the end of the first quarter. With the unsuccessful PAT, Kish led 6-0.

On the following kick off, the Indians captured a successful onsides kick and started an offensive drive on the Cyclones 45.

It took five plays and the Indians were back on the scoreboard.

Braden Peachey made it 13-0 when he scored on a 16-yard run. A successful 2-point conversion made it a 14-0 advantage.

Derry Decatur scored a late first half touchdown when Rhine caught a pass and ran for 57 yards for the TD, setting the stage for the thrilling final minutes of the game.

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