By Jim Henry

jhenry@joplinglobe.com

CHERRYVALE, Kan. — Riverton and Cherryvale began with fireworks from both offenses — and fireworks set off by Cherryvale fans beyond the stadium fence after the Chargers scored.

But Cherryvale’s defense came up with key fourth-quarter stops and held off the Rams 28-20 Tuesday night in a Class 3A bi-district football game.

The Rams (8-2) trailed 14-8 at halftime but scored twice in the first four minutes of the second half for a 20-14 lead.

Matt Tyree, who rushed for 216 yards and two touchdowns, scored on a 23-yard run on the first play after Damon Simmons went 27 yards with a fumble that was forced by Cody Rowland.

Less than three minutes later, Chase Mead hurdled a would-be tackler just beyond the line of scrimmage and raced 54 yards to put the Rams ahead. Mead gained 74 of his 91 yards in the second half.

Cherryvale (10-0) regained the lead on the first play of the fourth quarter when quarterback Roman Lopez scored from the 5, and Shane Hammer’s PAT made it 21-20.

Riverton’s next two possessions ended with incomplete passes on fourth down-and-11 from the Cherryvale 41 and fourth-and-4 from the Riverton 38 with 3:55 left.

The Chargers picked up two first downs to the 13 before the Rams — under instructions from head coach Cory White — intentionally allowed a touchdown to get the ball back as soon as possible. Running back Tevis Linnebur scored with no resistance — he also ran parallel at the 1 to burn a couple more seconds before crossing the goal line — to make it 28-20 with 1:55 remaining.

Riverton, out of timeouts, began its final drive from the 33. Tyree’s 13-yard run to the Cherryvale 46 earned one first down, and the Chargers were called for pass interference on a fourth-down incomplete pass to give Riverton a first down at the 30 with 32 seconds left.

After two incomplete passes, Preston Combs hit Shiloh Murphy with a 5-yard pass inbounds as the clock approached 10 seconds. Combs’ fourth-down pass toward Tyree near the left sideline was broken up by Hammer with two seconds left.

“It’s just the way it went,” White said. “We went for it on fourth downs, and I’d do it again. I had every confidence we could have gotten the yard or half-yard we needed every time. At midfield or wherever we were, I would do the same thing again. We couldn’t get the big play in the fourth quarter.

“I thought we had some momentum in the second half, but we just couldn’t get it done. Our kids made some plays, but as the game went on, we just couldn’t make enough big ones.”

“Our defense doesn’t get talked about enough,” Cherryvale head coach Harry Hester said. “(The coaches) do a tremendous job, and our kids play hard. Eyeball test, we’re not going to win that one, but we’ll come out and we’ll fight. And we’ll fight for four quarters.”

The Chargers hadn’t allowed a first-half touchdown all season, but the Rams covered 91 yards on 10 running plays on the game’s opening series to grab an 8-0 lead.

Tyree, 5-foot-6, 172-pound senior, picked up 76 yards on five carries during the drive, including 32-yard on the first play an a 24-yarder one play before he scored from the 2. Greyson Spriggs added the conversion run for an 8-0 lead with 7:35 left in the first quarter.

“Tyree is the best we’ve seen,” Hester said. “He’s an outstanding player. He’s shifty, strong, he holds onto the ball. I’d be surprised if he’s fumbled all year. And he runs hard with a low pad level. I’m really impressed with him. We knew he’d be a handful, and I’m sure he got plenty of yards, but we pride ourselves on stopping scores.”

The Chargers responded with a 55-yard, seven-play drive capped by Lopez’s 8-yard quarterback keeper. After Riverton punted, Linnebur took an option pitch and sped 60 yards don the left side for a touchdown and a 14-8 lead in the final minute of the quarter.

Linnebur, 5-6, 170 senior, finished with 166 yards on 27 carries, and Lopez had 64 yards on 11 attempts for the Chargers, who had 218 rushing and 262 total yards compared to Riverton’s 334 rushing and 347 total yards.

“They have nice speed,” White said. “The quarterback-running back combination, both of those guys allowed them to move the chains and get some big plays. They do a nice job of what they do.”

Cherryvale won a playoff game for the first time since 2004 when the Chargers reached the third round under current Carthage coach Jon Guidie. The Chargers play Saturday at Silver Lake, a 64-0 winner Tuesday over Jayhawk-Linn.