HAMPSHIRE — After a 20-6 loss to Hampshire, that wasn't as close as the score indicates, Byron finds itself in the critical phase of its season.

The 1-3 Tigers start BNC play with back-to-back games against conference favorites Oregon and Stillman Valley.

Plagued by mental errors, ineffective line play and sloppy tackling against Hampshire (1-3), Byron needs to get better in a hurry.

"This was probably the flattest we've been," Byron coach Mike Elsbury said. "We had mental mistakes on coverage and were diving at the feet on tackles."

Hampshire had a 19-play, nine-minute drive to start the game, but were stopped on downs inside the 10-yard line. After a Byron punt, the Whip-Purs repeated the drill (14 plays, 74 yards), this time scoring on a 3-yard Caleb Kendrick run.

"We couldn't stop them on the run, but we'll get better," Byron's Brady Scheffler said.

"Our season isn't over by any means," Elsbury said.

"We can fix our mistakes."

The Whip-Purs increased their lead to 14-0 just before halftime on a 82-yard drive, aided by a questionable roughing the punter call on Byron.

James Goebbert caught a 7-yard touchdown pass from Evan Brenner.

"This game is the start of something special," Brenner said. "We know we can run the table on win the conference."

Even though a Scheffler 28-yard touchdown on a nifty reverse was called back for holding, the Tigers were able to close the gap to 14-6 on the same drive. Four plays later, David Boyle found Conor Bernhard on a crossing pattern for a 13-yard scoring pass.

The Whip-Purs finished off Byron with two time-consuming drives, one for 80 yards and the other for 70, capped off by a 2-yard Joe Moore touchdown run to make it 20-6 midway through the fourth quarter.

"If we can play like we did tonight, we can win (the BNC East)," Hampshire coach Dan Cavanaugh said. "We controlled the time of possession."

Hampshire had five drives of over 70 yards and were still driving at the at the 60-plus mark as the game ended. Moore had 170 yards rushing on 33 carries, helping Hampshire run rearly twice as many plays as Byron.

"Coming in, they're weren't an 0-3 team. A healthy Joe Moore ran hard," Elsbury said.

- Andy Colbert, rrstar.com