Going into the second half with a 13-7 lead, the Trojans knew that work was still needed to be done and that they couldn’t slow down on Magna Vista’s heavy rushing offense; but penalties and defensive mistakes were costly for Tunstall as they allowed 21 unanswered points in the third quarter.

“It’s tough when 10 guys do what they are supposed to do and one guy blows an assignment or one guy is in the wrong place or doesn’t make his read or doesn’t do what he needs to do and it’s tough,” said Tunstall head coach David Potts. “Good teams like Magna Vista can take advantage of those.”

Tunstall wouldn’t go down without a fight though. The Trojans opened the fourth quarter with an onside kick recovery that landed on the Trojans 45-yard line. They would drive their way downfield to the Magna Vista one-yard line thanks to multiple key runs from Trevor Lovelace and Clay Hardy; but a false start penalty on Tunstall would push them back to the Magna Vista seven-yard line. Hardy would find his into the end-zone for his second touchdown of the game and narrowed the Warriors lead to 28-19; Tunstall failed on the two-point conversion.

After Magna Vista scored and made it a 35-19 lead, the Trojans took over with less than seven minutes left, Tunstall quarterback Luke Buckner connected to Fletcher Hardy on a 15-yard pass that found the Trojans on the Warriors 25-yard line. Clay Hardy would do the rest of the work as he eluded multiple Warriors for the 25- yard touchdown; for the second time in a row, the Trojans failed on the two-point conversion. It was Hardy’s third touchdown of the night and cut it to a 35-25 Warriors lead.  Tunstall’s comeback came to an end when the Warriors scored with 31 seconds remaing; losing 42-25. With the Trojans lost, it makes it nine consecutive years that Tunstall lost a game to the Warriors. The last that the Warriors lost a game to the Trojans was on October 19, 2007.

“We played well enough at times to pull off a huge upset,” said Potts. “We just gave up some big plays and critical junctures, but I’m proud of the boys. They played hard and if we play like that again, hopefully we can go into the playoffs on a winning note.”

The Trojans were hot coming into the first half. On the their own 37-yard line and on 3&7, Lovelace found an opening and darted on a 59-yard rush; he would be tackled on the Magna Vista 5- yard line. On the Warriors 2-yard line, Buckner would go up the middle on the QB sneak to give Tunstall’s first points of the game.

After Magna Vista was stopped on fourth down, Tunstall would drive the ball 80 yards downfield for the score. On the Warriors 43-yard line and 4&3, Buckner found Johnathan Tyler wide open on a 23-yard pass that set up Tunstall on the Magna Vista 20-yard line. With a few key blocks, the Trojans would be able to pull of a reverse play that gave Clay Hardy an opening to extended Tunstall’s lead to 13-0; Reagan Dillon missed the PAT.

Buckner would finish the game 13 for 21 with 129 passing yard; his third 100+ passing yard game this season. Tyler and Michael Pyrtle each caught a total of four passes from Buckner. Tyler had 40 receiving yards while Pyrtle had 32. Fletcher Hardy caught three passes for 36 receiving  yards.

Despite the loss, Tunstall’s running game has shown some improvement from their 50-0 blowout loss from Martinsville last week. For the fourth time this season, Lovelace had another 100-yard performance. He also had 23 carries to the total. With Lovelace having a total of 948 rushing yards for the year; he is only 52 yards’ shy of the prestigious 1,000 rushing mark.

In addition, Clay Hardy had a total of 84 rushing yards on eight carries on the night while Buckner had five carries on 15 yards.

Heading into this week, Tunstall is now in a win or go home situation. If the Trojans defeat Piedmont District rival Bassett this Friday, it would mean that for first-time in two years that Tunstall is playing in the postseason. If not, they will be eliminated. Per Potts, he feels that his squad has no pressure on them.

“I don’t think feels they pressure like that,” said Potts “I think they are excited for the opportunity to try and to get into the playoffs. After last season, the playoffs is pretty bright.”