Menu
Homecoming ends in win
As if Homecoming 2017 and the Caruthersville Tigers (2-2) vs. the Charleston Blue Jays (2-2) playing football under the Friday night lights were not enough, the military members of Operation Healthy Delta honored both football teams by joining the cheerleaders in cheering the teams onto the field. Lt. Sticht of the National Guard presented the game ball to Caruthersville Head Coach Jimmy Jackson and the game was ready to play. To make it a perfect homecoming night, the Tigers took down the Charleston Blue Jays by a score of 66-22.
After the crowning of the Caruthersville homecoming queen, the Tigers and Blue Jays took the field. The opening kick-off was received by #6 Chris Smith, who ran it back 91 yards for a touchdown. Only 15 seconds into the game, the Tigers were up 7-0. After a deep kick-off, Charleston started their march back up the field hoping to gain points in answer to the Tigers. The Blue Jays successfully made a first down and started on their second set of downs. On the second play, Charleston QB, #14 Moody lets go a long pass which found its receiver. Charleston had a first and goal on the 4-yard line. The Blue Jays QB made a short pass for the touchdown. The 2-point conversion was good. With 9:22 left in the 1st quarter, it was 7-8 Charleston. A series of runs, passes and penalties kept the ball from finding either end zone for the remainder of the quarter The Tigers were near their end zone due to a fumble punt by Charleston as the quarter came to an end with the score still at 7-8 Charleston.
The second quarter opened with the Tigers near the 20 and looking to make a first down. A short pass to Teruis Rodgers gained the needed first down and the Tigers were set to get into the end zone again. A running play by Deandre Davis gave the Tigers the first touchdown of the second quarter. Deandre Davis was shaken up on the play and would not return for the remainder of the evening. Unfortunately, the point after was no good; score 13-8 Tigers with 10:06 on the clock. The Tigers kick off to Charleston who are not able to capitalize on the possession. The Blue Jays had to punt. The punt was short and gave the Tigers good field position. The Tigers made first down due to a Nick Moore carry. Then, Charles Goliday kept the ball for another first down as the Tigers started a steady march down field. A handoff to Demarco Slaughter gave the Tigers good position to walk into the end zone, which Charles Goliday did on the next play. An attempted 2 point conversion was no good. The Tigers were up by a score of 19-8 with 7:07 left in the half. The scoring would continue. The teams exchanged punts on downs with neither of them gaining much ground. The Tigers were able to recover on the carry by the Blue Jays, giving them another opportunity to gain points on the night. After a couple of good passes and a penalty, Charles Goliday’s pass finds Bryce Strawn who took the ball to the house. The point after was good and the Tigers had a 26-8 lead with 1:10 left in the half. The Blue Jays were not done. After the Tiger kick-off, the Blue Jays managed a good runback to near midfield. The recharged Blue Jays make several more successful runs and reached the end zone with 17.8 seconds left in the half. Two-point conversion was good. Score 26-16 Tigers. The Tigers were returning the ball and were run out of bounds when the horn blew, ending the half.
Like the second quarter, the third quarter would see a lot of scoring. The second half opened with several passing plays and turnover on downs back and forth between the teams. Defenses made gaining much ground difficult for ether team. Then Tiger Demarco Slaughter managed to break free and ran the ball 52 yards for a Tiger touchdown. The point after was good. Score was 33-16 Tigers. Tiger fouls gave Charleston an advantage on the kickoff return. Charleston made a first down which started their second set of downs. The next Charleston pass was intercepted by Terrius Rodgers., who ran the ball back to the 10-yard line. Nick Moore took the handoff and ran the ball in for a Tiger touchdown. Point after was no good. Score 39-16 with 6:48 left in the quarter. Again, a series of passes and a series of fouls by the Tigers added yards for Charleston. Charleston was unable to capitalize on those advantages and eventually had to turn the ball over on downs. The Tigers made their downs and headed back up the field. The consistent movement up allowed the Tigers to get to a first and goal where Nick Moore made another Tiger touchdown. The point after was good. Score with 2:51 left in the quarter was 46-16 Tigers. The Blue jays took the kickoff return to near mid-field and then took advantage of the good field position and threw a long pass which found their receiver, for a touchdown. Two-point conversion was no good. Score 46-22 Tigers with 2:26 on the quarter. The Tigers returned the kick-off to near mid field as well. This gave the Tigers an opportunity to score again before the end of the quester. Charles Goliday found his receiver, which placed the Tiger at the 8-yard line. The next play, Goliday took the ball into the end zone. Extra point was good. Tiger 53-22 with 1:44 left in the quarter. Charleston took the kick deep and returned to near the 35. A couple off-setting penalties kept play going until the horn blew ending the quarter.
The fourth quarter started with a sack of the Charleston quarterback. The Blue Jays were then forced to turn the ball over on downs. The Tigers started a combination of short passes and runs to gain downs and move the ball down field. On a quarterback keeper, which put the ball near the 5-yard line, Charles Goliday was shaken up. He left the game. The next play saw Nick Moore take the ball in for a touchdown. The extra point was no good. Score was 59-22 Tigers with 8:06 left in the game. The Tigers were wearing on the Blue Jays, breaking plays and only allowing short yardage. The Tigers took over possession near the 40-yard line and managed to give Demarco Slaughter the ball. Slaughter ran the ball 57 yards to the house for a for the last score of the game. The extra point was good. Tigers 66-22.
Tiger Head Coach Jimmy Jackson said of the week and the game, “We had a good week of practice. We kinda switched some things up and I thought the kids stepped up to the challenge. We still have a lot of things to work on, we got to tackle better, got to cover better. But, I thought we did a good job overall against the running game.” He continued, “We are how we play, how hard we play, really. When we want to play together, want to fight, we do well. When we don’t we don’t do well, bottom line.”
The Tigers next game will be at Dexter, Friday, September 22 at 7 pm.