With just a few minutes remaining, it appeared the game was in the bag. Before it was over, the Braves had to practice the “knock it down” rule.

The Braves junior varsity defeated the Lander JV in a game played Tuesday afternoon, 28-22, in a game that went down to the final play. The Tigers jumped out early as shifty quarterback, Garrett Irene found the endzone to put the Tigers up 6-0. The two-point conversion failed as the Braves went on the offensive.

Chris Jenkins looked sharp as he found multiple targets and it was culminated by a Darin Taylor touchdown. The PAT was no good from Mark VanSlyke as the game was tied up at 6-6. Taylor, Jenkins and Jonathan Scherbel all contributed in big ways as the defense shut down the Tigers for much of the contest. Star Valley built a 20-6 on a gorgeous fade route from Jenkins to Scherbel before Lander began their rally. After a long sustained drive and a two-point conversion to draw them to within 20-14, the Braves seemingly put the game away on a long 50-yard touchdown run by Tayor to put them up 28-14.

The exuberance was short-lived however, as Lander’s Justin Artery left the field in his dust to draw the Tigers within six at 28-22. A hard onsides kick careened off the chest of a Braves player while Lander recovered. In the end, Irene had two nice attempts into the endzone but the Star Valley defense was up to the task and knocked them away to preserve the victory.

The Braves junior varsity will play again this Thursday at 5 p.m. as they host the Shelley Russets. This game takes the place of the Rock Springs game previously published.