A week after putting 72 points on the board, Anderson High School's football squad struggled to score against neighborhood rival Turpin. Fortunately for the Raptors on this wet night, the Spartans were equally unproductive.

Much like it did in their last meeting two seasons ago, the game came down to a final possession. After a Griffin Scalf punt to the 1-yard line, Turpin had 99 yards to go in 63 seconds to win.

With 15 seconds to play at midfield, the game went to Anderson on an interception of Will Schulock by Wyatt Holt. Schulock, who had been picked off just four times all season, was picked off three times with another wiped away by a penalty. 

Naturally, there was a celebration penalty, but it didn't matter as orange-clad Anderson defeated Turpin 21-14. 

"Winning a rivalry game is huge for morale, the school and everything to bring everyone together and get us ready for the playoffs," Anderson coach Evan Dreyer said. 

Said Turpin coach Kent McCullough, "They made more plays than we did with the game on the line."

Raptors quarterback Scalf threw the ball a season-low 24 times, completing 15. Instead, Anderson went more to the ground with senior Evan Upchurch and Scalf trading carries.

Upchurch had a kickoff return for a score and a scoring run in the second quarter and Scalf split his way in for the final score in the fourth quarter. 

"The playoffs the last couple of years have taught me that you've got to be able to run the ball when you need to in November to win games," Dreyer said. "As we go further in the season, our O-line keeps improving. I'm really excited about staying healthy and seeing what we can do in week 11."

For the first time all season, Anderson didn't score in the first quarter. The Raptors had the ball in the red zone twice but an interception and a Spartans stop kept Anderson from scoring. Not since 2019 when Hamilton and Harrison held them scoreless early had that happened.

Likewise, Turpin couldn't break into the scoring column. They were held on fourth down twice deep in Raptors territory.

The first score of the game came defensively in the second quarter when Ryan McDole jumped a Scalf route and rambled down the left sideline unscathed.

But, Anderson seized the momentum right back by blocking the extra point, then Upchurch returned the ensuing kickoff 95 yards for the score. Hayden Brooke's extra point put Anderson up 7-6. 

Less than five minutes later, Upchurch hit pay turf again on a 13-yard run to go up 14-6. That proved to be the halftime score when the Spartans sputtered late in the half, getting stopped on fourth down when Tennessee commit Brody Foley sacked Turpin's Schulock. 

The Spartans possessed the ball for seven more minutes and held Eastern Cincinnati Conference reception leader Joey Faulkner to just one catch. 

Neither team scored in the third quarter as Max Muehlenkamp stopped a Turpin drive with an interception, then the Spartans stopped a Raptors drive at the 39-yard line. A few minutes later, another drive stalled at the 49 on an incomplete pass.

The game-winning drive actually came early in the fourth quarter when Anderson drove 94 yards in a little less than five minutes to go up 21-6 when Scalf ran in from the 10-yard line. \\But, after Anderson played the run game to score, Turpin played the hurry-up pass game and put a tally on the ticker when Schulock hit McDole from the 10. After Schulock's two-point run the deficit was just one score.

Normally pass-happy Anderson then stuck to the ground game, grinding the clock. When Scalf punted to the 1-yard line it was his second punt of the game and just the fourth of the season.

Unlike 2019 when Turpin had a finishing score and a two-point conversion to win on their last possession, Anderson held the lead and took the game.

"Punting is a failure on offense but he (Scalf) made us look really good on special teams," Dreyer said. "In the fourth quarter, it was kind of a battle of wills. We just got one more score. It was a bruising fight."

Anderson goes to 8-2, with Turpin dropping to 6-4.

"If you would have told me before the game we'd hold that offense to 14 points because there was one kickoff return, I'd probably been pretty happy," McCullough said. "We definitely had some red-zone opportunities to put points on the board and didn't."

Prior to the game, it appeared Anderson was in line for a home playoff game with Xenia and Turpin would face Withrow in an eight-seed vs. nine-seed game next week. All of that will be decided officially on Sunday after all results are tabulated. 

The backyard brawl is easily one of the most heated rivalries since it was created in 1976 by the Forest Hills School District.

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