From a Winter Springs shutout win to a famous rapper showing up to the game and a stadium light catching on fire, the Tuskawilla Tussle surely lived up to the hype that generated throughout the week. The game finally kicked off at 7 p.m. on Friday, October 1, with quarterback Hunter Hill getting his first starting nod, hoping to lead the Bears to victory. The game started off as a defensive battle with both teams not scoring a single point in the first quarter. The defensive line for the bears was proving too much for the Silverhawks as there were a total of 9 tackles for loss and 8 sacks throughout the game with defensive end Kendell Clark being the top dog with 3 sacks and 3 tackles for loss.

In the second quarter the Bears’ offense was starting to find their stride, as they were able to string together two successful drives, both ending in touchdowns. The first touchdown came after the Bears blocked a punt with four minutes to go in the second quarter setting them up at the Hawks 15-yard line. Then Bears tailback Kaiden Williams caught a pass out of the backfield, powered through multiple Hawks defenders, and got into the end zone for a touchdown. After the extra point from Tyler Brones the scoreboard read 7-0 in favor of the Bears. After the score the defense continued to smother the Hawks offense forcing a punt. On the following drive Hill took the Bears 40 yards to the goal line and with under a minute left in the half, he threw another touchdown pass to Kaiden Williams to bring the score to 14-0. 

At halftime the Band of Gold came onto the field and most of the fans in attendance made their way to the concession stand. Instead of everyone buying snacks and getting ready for the third quarter, students spotted famous rapper Ron Suno. He soon started gathering a crowd, greeting fans, and getting to know the Bear community. Suno was in town for an event in downtown Orlando and decided to stop by to watch the game. After all the halftime festivities were over, the third quarter kicked off and started out much like the first quarter. Both teams’ defenses were making stops and neither offense could move the ball. Even though there was no scoring, an exciting turn of events occurred. One of the stadium lights caught fire for seemingly no reason and was dropping burnt debris onto the baseball field. Fans saw this and notified proper authorities who handled the situation. The team however kept on playing and possibly used the blaze to set off some sort of internal fire within the Bears going into the fourth quarter.

In the fourth quarter all the Bears had to do was wrap things up and they did just that. With five minutes left in the game, Hunter Hill rushed into the end zone from the 1-yard line to make the score 21-0. The Bears defense forced Lake Howell to another punt and just like that the final seconds ticked off the clock and the Bears secured the win. Mr. Gaffney hoisted the trophy and the team celebrated as they became this year’s Tuskawilla Tussle champions.