Shelton falls short of knocking off Wilson

Shelton High School made big play after big play Friday night at Stadium Bowl in Tacoma.

Unfortunately for the Highclimbers they couldn’t make the biggest play of all and fell, 24-23, to Wilson in Class 3A Narrows League football.

Down a touchdown late in the fourth quarter, Shelton caught a huge break when Taylor Toney blocked a Wilson punt at the Rams’ 45-yard line.

An eight play drive aided by a pass interference call against Wilson culminated with a quarterback sneak for a touchdown by Tyler Giraldes but the extra point was no good with just over a minute to play.

No problem it seemed when Shelton recovered an onside kick at midfield and, aided by a Wilson penalty that took away what would have been a game sealing interception by Wilson’s Alex Motonaga, moved to the Rams’ 12-yard line with nine seconds left.

Cody Braggs attempt at a 30-yard field goal bounced off the right upright and the game was finally decided.

Wilson had started the scoring with a 36-yard field goal by Alek Greenleaf with 2:23 left in the first quarter but that lead didn’t last long as Shelton’s Colton Paller ran the ensuing kickoff back 99 yards for a touchdown.

Wilson went up 10-7 on a drive that featured Elijah Jones rushing for 50 yards including the final five for a touchdown with 11:03 to go before halftime.

Shelton took advantage of a Wilson fumble to score on the very next play, a 6-yard run by Willy Ruiz to go back ahead, 14-10, and then made it 17-10 on a 38-yard field goal by Bragg after yet another Rams turnover.

Wilson tied it with 3:50 left before halftime when Ezra Afans made his first carry of the night count with a 33-yard touchdown sprint.

Jones gave the Rams a lead they would not relinquish with a 1-yard sprint up the middle with 57 seconds remaining.

Neither team scored again until Giraldes’ near-tying score in the waning moments

This story was originally published October 2, 2015 at 10:45 PM with the headline "Shelton falls short of knocking off Wilson."