By Chuck Housteau

South Range battled from behind but couldn’t hold off Tuslaw’s late rally.

NORTH LIMA — The Tuslaw Mustangs stunned the South Range Raiders with a touchdown and two-point conversion run with 33 seconds left to turn back a 21-point comeback by the Raiders, and more importantly end the team’s 34-game regular season winning streak.

Quarterback Shelby Combs scored on a 3-yard run and Jake Kobilarcsik raced in with the two-point conversion run to give the Mustangs an incredible 29-28 win over South Range.

“This was like a first-round playoff game,” said Tuslaw coach Mike Held. “We are very fortunate to come out of their stadium with a one-point victory.

“We didn’t want to go into overtime with them because we know how good they are and you saw what they are capable of doing there in the fourth quarter.”

All the Raiders did was pick themselves up off the canvas in the fourth quarter in a fashion boxing’s middleweight champion Kelly Pavlik would have been proud of and rally from a 21-7 deficit to take a 28-21 lead with 1:51 remaining in the game.

However a missed tackle on a pooch kick by the Raiders enabled Tuslaw to return the ball to the South Range 29-yard line after a touchdown-saving tackle by David Buzzacco.

Combs, who had been a thorn in the Raiders’ side all night, rallied the Mustangs with his arm and legs to travel the 29 yards in six plays before tallying from 3-yards out.

Combs finished the night with 108 yards rushing on 24 carries and passed for another 130 yards on 12 of 25 passes. Combs threw for one touchdown and ran for two others to lead Tuslaw.

Kobilarcsik’s run around left end provided the game-winning points.

“You gotta play 48 minutes of football,” said South Range coach Dan Yeagley. “There were times when we played well and times when we played poorly and you can’t make mistakes against a very good playoff caliber team like Tuslaw.”

The Raiders loss was their first regular season defeat since 2004 against Lowellville.

But South Range, who graduated 25 seniors from last year’s regional final team, didn’t give up the streak without a fight.

Trailing 21-7 and virtually ineffective for much of the first three quarters on both sides of the ball, the Raiders came to life.

Hunter Spitz, who rushed for 118 yards, broke free for a 70-yard touchdown to cut the lead to 21-14.

On the next series, quarterback Jack Dawson, who scored on a 6-yard run in the first quarter, scored on a 5-yard run to help the Raiders pull even with Tuslaw. That drive was set up by a 47-yard run by Stephan Cornish.

South Range’s defense came alive as well and stopped the Mustangs on three straight drives during their three-touchdown blitz.

Nick Golec gave the Raiders their lead at 28-21 on a 1-yard run that capped an 11-play, 51-yard drive.

“These kids have a lot of heart and a lot of pride,” Yeagley said.

South Range opened the scoring in the first period with Dawson’s scoring run to take a 7-0 lead before Tuslaw scored 21 unanswered points.