Springfield quarterback Beau Brungard and company had other ideas though. The senior called his own number twice in the fourth quarter to help push the Tigers over the top and get their first win of the season, 20-14, over the Warriors.

“I think that shows the character of our seniors right now that we’re gonna keep playing till the last play, so I give them a lot of credit,” Tigers coach Sean Guerriero said. “Brookfield, that’s a heck of a football team there. Coach (Randy) Clark does a good job and those guys were fighting too. Fortunately, we came out on top on this one.”

Brookfield got on the scoreboard first, with junior quarterback Donovan Pawlowski hitting Isaiah Jones on a 58-yard bomb with seven seconds remaining in the first half. The Warriors missed the extra point.

Springfield took a brief lead with Bo Snyder sneaking in from the 3-yard line, but it didn’t last long as the Warriors closed the first half with another score.

Staff photo / Brian Yauger Brookfield quarterback Donovan Pawkowski dives out of bounds as Springfield's Beau Brungard attempts to bring him down.

The Pawlowski-Jones Connection struck again right before the end of the first half. This time, Pawlowski hit Jones on a 14-yard strike to retake the lead going into the break.

With an opportunity to extend the lead at the tail end of the third quarter, Pawlowski was stuffed at the 1-yard line by the Springfield defense.

That was a trend all night as the defense continued to succeed, even with all the talent Brookfield has.

“Offensively, I think we’re still trying to find a rhythm,” Guerriero said. “I think that’s one thing that we’ve got to make sure we do. Defensively, I thought we played well. Even if we gave up a couple big plays, with the skill that they have in their lineup, you’re probably gonna give up a couple, so I thought our defense did a tremendous job. We’ve just got to find that rhythm on offense.”

Two plays later however, a high snap sent the ball into the back of the endzone and the Warriors forced a safety.

Staff photo / Brian Yauger Brookfield’s Isaiah Jones, back, and Xzavier Witherow celebrate after Jones' 58-yard touchdown reception at the end of the first quarter.

That’s when Brungard kicked it into high gear.

Other teams may have folded in that position, but Brungard’s veteran leadership helped keep the Tigers’ spirits up.

“My center came up to me and he was talking to me, and he was the one with the bad snap, but he was telling me ‘Don’t worry about it, I’ve got your back, we’re gonna keep doing this,’ and he was true to his word and we got better,” Brungard said. “We played a great second half, and it picked up the energy and the crowd got into it and it was a great way to finish the game.”

Brungard helped guide the Tigers down the field twice and then called his own number both times from 5-yards out to score. With 11 seconds left, Springfield scored the go-ahead touchdown, then the defense held strong after the kickoff to retain the lead and pick up their first win.

The red zone issues are something the Warriors hope to remedy as they travel to Western Reserve to take on the Blue Devils.

“When we get the ball down there in the red zone, you’ve got to score against a team like that,” Clark said. “We had our opportunities to pull ahead and we didn’t, but we fought, we continued, the kids played hard throughout the whole night. That’s a good team. Of course it’s a good team. We showed that we can play with anyone around here.”

Up next, the Tigers hit the road up to Lake Erie where they’ll face a Division III school in Geneva.