Anytime you lose a game, the setback is difficult to take.
However, losing a game in which you feel you squandered opportunities against a team that you had earlier defeated makes the pain all the more acute.
That is the emotion felt by the Owls last Friday night as they gave up an early lead and could never recover, losing to MBA in the Division II, AAA state semifinals, 20-14, and ending their season at 7-4, 3-2.
MUS came out on fire, looking composed and confident against the Big Red.
After a three-and-out for MBA, the Owls took over at their own 30. 11 balanced plays later, MUS took the early lead as QB John Conrad McCrary went in from 1-yard out on fourth-and-goal. Ben Tacker's PAT gave the Owls the 7-0 lead.
The MUS defense maintained the momentum as they forced another Big-Red punt, and the Owls took over, looking to add to their advantage.
Starting from their own 19, the Owls ran 13 plays to get deep into MBA territory. However, once MUS got inside the Big Red 20, the drive stalled, and Tacker came out to attempt a 38-yard field-goal. The Owls came away with no points as Tacker's attempt was no good, and MBA had the big play they needed to turn the game around.
After the missed field-goal, the game turned almost immediately as the Big Red began to control both lines and become very aggressive.
They took the MUS miscue and drove 80 yards in 9 plays to tie the score as WR Matthew Jacques hauled in a 30-yard pass from QB Michael Fisher. Bryant Hahnfeldt's extra point tied the score at 7.
The Big Red eventually increased the lead to 20-7 on a pair of Michael-Koban 8-yard runs, one in the second quarter and the other in the third. Hahnfeldt did not convert his third PAT attempt, a miss that gave MUS a chance.
The Owls tried to come back.
With John Phillips now at quarterback, he led MUS down the field in the fourth quarter to cut the lead to six. His 22-yard touchdown run culminated the 5-play, 58-yard drive as MUS was within one score with 7:34 left.
But the Owls could never get any closer.
With MBA blitzing nearly every down, the Owl quarterbacks rarely had time to find their targets as they combined to complete 11-31 passes for only 106 yards and 3 interceptions.
The running game was also stymied as the Owls could muster only 94 rushing yards. RB Derek Clenin led MUS with 67 yards on 22 carries.
However, the MBA offense found the going somewhat easier even though it took several series to get started. They compiled 330 total yards, including 183 second-half yards. Koban led the Big Red in rushing, amassing 128 yards on 15 carries. He also may have saved his team on one of these runs as he broke off a 65-yarder in the fourth quarter to turn field-position around after the Owls had cut the lead to 20-14 and had the momentum.
With the win MBA improves to 8-4, 4-2, and advances to the state title game against Brentwood Academy, a 38-0 winner over McCallie. The Big-Red victory also ends the Owls' season. Even though MUS has a large senior class, they have several key players returning to spearhead next year's run.