On paper, it looked like a tune-up game for Tohopekaliga.
After all, the Tigers were 5-2, were averaging more than 40 points and 500 yards of offense per game; while Harmony had lost five straight and were shut out in their last three games.
But games are not played on paper. Or inside TV sets. They’re played on expanses of grass like The Ranch, where the Harmony Longhorns (2-6) came up with six stops on fourth down, forced three turnovers and had just enough big plays on offense to record an impressive 23-14 upset of Tigers in their final home game of the season.
“This team has been through so much this season, but they never quit. I’m so proud of the effort they gave tonight. Our quarterback (Kal Amen) grew up a lot tonight and defense played lights out,” Harmony Coach Nick Lippert said. “Offense, defense, special teams – it was a total team effort.”
That total effort started on Tohopekaliga’s second possession. Faced with 4th-and-1 from their own 28, the Tigers elected to go for it but failed to convert. Three plays later, Amen hit Ivaniel Ramos on a 30-yard touchdown pass to give the Longhorns a 7-0 lead on the first play of the second quarter.
The Longhorn defense remained stout until late in the half, when Tohopekaliga put together a six-play, 58-yard drive that was concluded with a 10-yard scoring pass from Sabby Meassick to Churandy Duval to tie the score.
Still, the story of the first half was the Longhorn defense. They intercepted Meassick twice and limited him to 95 yards passing on 12-for-20 as the first half finished with the teams knotted up 7-7.
Harmony’s offense made a statement to start the third quarter, when Amen marched the Longhorns 65 yards on five plays with Jeremy Hilliard capping the drive with a 9-yard touchdown run. Amen had the big play on the drive, faking a handoff and running off left end for a 26-yard game.
The Longhorn defense came up with a huge play on the next series, partially blocking a punt to set the offense up on the Toho 19-yard line. Three plays netted just five yards but and freshman Brayden Buehler booted a 31-yard field goal to up the lead to 17-7.
Tohopekaliga cut the lead to 17-14 on a 7-yard scoring pass from Meassick to Emanuel Theagene, and then appeared to gain momentum by recovering the ensuing onsides kick.
But a huge sack by Jeremiah Gomez forced a Tohopekaliga punt. Harmony fumbled on its next possession, but the defense again came up big with a fourth down stop. On the Longhorns’ next possession, Hillard broke two tackles at the line of scrimmage and raced 54 yards for a touchdown and a 23-14 lead in the fourth quarter. Hilliard finished with 123 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries.
“He was a monster tonight,” Lippert added. “The long touchdown was one thing, but he kept picking up the tough three and four-yard runs and moving the chains for us when we needed it.”
Meassick, who came into the game completing 71% of his passes and averaging 400 yards per game throwing, was 25 for 47 (53.1%) for 230 yards. He was picked off twice, in addition to losing a fumble and being sacked twice.
“Our defense did a great job tonight,” Amen said. “They made the defensive stops when we needed to and gave our offense good field position all night. This win is something I think we can build off for the rest of this year and for next season.”
Harmony, now 2-6, travels to Heritage (7-1) next week. “It will be a tough challenge for us,” Lippert noted. “They are solid on both sides of the ball and always seem to get a lot of really good players transferring in to their program. We’ll get a good week of work in and do our best.”
Tohopekaliga now must re-group for what may be the biggest game in the school’s brief five-year history. With both teams 2-0 in district play, they will host Osceola (2-6) for the Class 4S, District 10 championship next week. At stake is a trip to the regional playoffs. Osceola has made 16 straight regional appearances; while Tohopekaliga will be looking for its first since 2020 and second in program history.
