Barton's 4 TDs Propel Tigers past Lancaster 35-27

The Twinsburg Tigers knew they needed someone to start a fire on offense to come away with a win against the Lancaster Golden Gales. Junior running back John Barton was that spark.

Barton's 109 yards rushing and four touchdowns, including a 90-yard kickoff return in the second quarter, propelled the Tigers to a 35-27 win.

"John is a special player, and he does special things for us," head coach Joe Schiavone said. "For him to have this breakout night, we're very happy for him."

The Gales started off an offensive slugfest in the first half, scoring on the first drive, which was answered by a 25-yard touchdown strike from senior quarterback Jalen Washington to senior wide-out London Carter. Washington finished the night 6/13 passing for 118 yards, one touchdown and an interception.

Both teams went back and forth, scoring touchdowns nearly every possession. But the Gales fell off in the second quarter, mismanaging the clock and missing a last-second field goal wide-right to end the half.

Both defenses came back strong in the second half, with no scoring drives in the third quarter.

But on the first play of the fourth quarter, Barton sprinted past the Gale defenders for a five-yard touchdown that would put the Tigers ahead for good.

"That's a good football team we just played," Schiavone said. "That's a hard team to defend but my guys have a lot of heart."

Lancaster made things interesting at the end, scoring on a two-yard run, then stopping Barton on third-and-five on the Tigers' next possession. They marched down the field in the waning minutes, but Twinsburg's defense smothered Gale's quarterback Riley Theiss for a loss on a big third down. A failed pass attempt on fourth down ended the game.

Twinsburg heads to Stow next Friday to take on the Bulldogs at 7 p.m.