By Pete Mollica

The Tigers scored 20 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to gain the win.

COLUMBIANA — All week long, Springfield High coach Sean Guerriero preached to his team about making plays and the need for execution on offense.

Then his team went out and didn’t listen to him until the third quarter on Friday night.

The Tigers, who trailed 17-0 at halftime and 24-7 after three quarters scored 20 unanswered points in the fourth quarter and pulled out a 27-24 victory over Columbiana in a Inter-Tri-County League Tier One battle.

It was the Tigers (4-2, 1-2) first league win while Columbiana (4-2, 2-1) lost for the first time in league play.

“All we talked about last week was making some plays work with good execution,” Guerriero said. “Then we came out and did exactly the opposite in the first half. We talked about it again at halftime and finally we came out and did what we knew we were capable of in the second half.

“It was just a tremendous team effort the second half, everybody contributed and it was a big win for the program,” he said.

The Tigers got a super effort from senior quarterback Matt Evans, who took over the offense in the second half. He finished the game hitting on 22 of 32 passes for 265 yards and two touchdowns and also ran one yard for the game winning score in the final seconds.

“Matt really stepped up big time for us tonight,” Guerriero said.

But Evans said it was an entire team effort.

“It takes 11 guys to get the job done and that’s what we had in the second half,” Evans said. “I had great blocking on the line and my receivers did an outstanding job tonight. It was a huge win for us.

Trailing 24-7 after three quarters the Tigers really came alive in the final quarter.

First, Evans tossed a short pass to junior Jimmy Zubick, who broke several tackles and turned the play into a 63-yard gain. Senior halfback Travis Richey then scored from five yards out.

The Tigers then stuffed the Clippers on a fourth down try at the Springfield 37 yard line to take over with about five minutes remaining.

Evans completed 6-of-7 passes in the drive including a 3-yard touchdown toss to Eric Lipp to pull within three points 24-21 with 2:04 remaining.

Senior kicker Bryan Visingardi then executed the perfect onside kick that bounced off several Columbiana players before Joel Wharry recovered for the Tigers at the Clippers 40.

Again, Evans went to the air hitting three straight passes to get the ball to the Columbiana 9-yard line.

From there, he took it himself, three times before finally getting into the end zone from the one with 17 seconds left in the game.

Columbiana coach Bob Spaite didn’t know what to say after the game.

“I’ve never seen a game with two halves so completely different,” Spaite said. “We totally dominated the first two quarters and they completely outplayed us in the second half. I’m speechless and for me that’s really something.”

Columbiana, which rushed for 286 yards, most of them in the first half, scored on its first possession on a 4-yard run by quarterback Jon Ritchey.

On their next possession, the Clippers needed just three plays before senior Brian Warchol broke loose for a 54-yard touchdown run. On the next series, senior kicker Josh Harold converted a 23-yard field goal for a 17-0 halftime lead.

Springfield scored on its opening drive of the third quarter on a 20-yard pass from Evans to Garrett White.

Columbiana came right back to score on Warchol’s 6-yard run before the Tigers took control of the game.

mollica@vindy.com