Tigers end season with win over NMCC

Wednesday, October 18, 2017
Getting ready for the snap are offensive linemen Kieron Clowers, Darnelle Rodgers and Dundi Hamilton.

On Friday, Oct. 13, the Tigers finished up their regular season against the New Madrid County Central Eagles with a resounding 59-0 win. The Tigers finished the regular season 7-2 and was awarded a bye to start off post-season play.

The Eagles won the toss and elected to receive. The Tigers kicked the ball deep and the Eagles were only able to return the ball to near the 25-yard line where they started the first play of the game. Unfortunately for the Eagles, they were not able to make much gain and had to punt the ball back to the Tigers. The Eagle punt was short, giving the Tigers excellent field position for their opening run. The Tigers took advantage of the short field and quickly made a first down. On their next set of downs, Bryce Strawn found his mark. Tiger wide receiver Chris Smith ran past the Eagle defenders for a 28-yard touchdown. The point after was no good. With 9:02 left in the quarter, the Tigers led 6-0. The Tiger kick-off was deep and again only returned to near the 25-yard line. The Eagles had a holding penalty on the return, which set them back close to the 20, where they started their set of downs. The Eagles were able to gain two sets of first downs before the Tigers stopped the forward momentum causing the Eagles to turn the ball over on downs. The Tigers took over but Strawn threw an interception giving the ball back to the Eagles near mid-field. The celebration of the Eagles on the take away was short lived as they had to go three-and-out and return the ball to the Tigers. Again, the Eagle punt was short, giving the Tigers decent field advantage. The Tigers were not able to capitalize on the short field and have to punt the ball back to the Eagles after three unsuccessful plays. After only one play, the horn sounded to end the first quarter. Tigers led 6-0.

The second quarter started with the Eagles moved back a bit due to some penalties. The Eagles had a long road to gain a first down, but made attempts to do so. Unfortunately, the Tigers did not to allow the Eagles to make any gains on the field. The Tigers sacked the Eagle QB for a loss forcing them to punt the ball. The Tigers took over possession, but fumbled the ball allowing the Eagles a respite. The Eagles needed to move the ball down field, but the Tigers frustrated their efforts. Due to the frustrations, the Eagles were repeatedly penalized and found themselves going in reverse instead of forward. Again, the Eagles had to punt the ball back to the Tigers. The Tigers started their march downfield with a combination of passing and running, managed to gain close to a first down. An Eagle penalty assisted the Tigers, which allowed the first down and some additional yardage. The Tigers didn’t make it out of the backfield for two more plays, then a pass to Terrius Rodgers found its mark. Terrius ran 23 yards I to the end zone. The 2-point conversion was no good. With 5:03 left I the half, the Tigers led 12-0. Again, the Tigers kicked the ball deep. This time the Eagles returned the ball to near the 40-yard line., but an Eagle penalty moved the ball back to near the 10, near the original catch. The Eagles were not able to make much gain and had to punt. This punt was very short, allowing the Tigers only about 30 yards of field to attempt more points before the half. The Tigers took advantage of the short field and with 1:11 left in the half added to their lead with a quarterback keeper by Bryce Strawn. The point after was good. Tigers have a 19-0 lead. The resulting kickoff was again deep. The Eagles were only able to bring it back to near the 30. On the second play of the Eagle possession, the Eagles fumbled the ball. Jermaine Hollywood recovered the ball for the Tigers. Bryce Strawn threw the Ball to Dundi Hamilton for a Tiger touchdown with 15 seconds left in the half. The point after was good. The Tigers led 26-0. The Tigers kicked the ball deep. Before the Eagles were able to make a play, the half ended. The Tigers led 26-0 at the half.

As the second half started, the Eagles made an onside-kick and Marquis Edwards recovered the ball for the Tigers and ran it in for the first touchdown of the second half. The point after was good. With 11:53 left in the third quarter, the Tigers led 33-0. The Tiger kick-off went out of bounds near the 45 which gave the Eagles decent field position. Unfortunately, the Eagles were not able to capitalize on the shorter field and had to punt the ball back to the Tigers. The Eagle punt was again short. The Tigers had great field advantage and took advantage of the short field. A few short plays and some Eagle fouls allowed the Tigers to move the ball down field for first downs. Bryce Strawn handed the ball off to Nick Moore, who ran the ball 12 yards for a touchdown. The point after was no good. With 9:32 left in the quarter, the Tigers led 39-0. The clock was left to run as the quarter continued and the Eagle frustrations grew. The Eagles had made a foul on the point after try which resulted in a better position for the Tiger kickoff and a very long field for the Eagles on their return. As frustrations grew on the Eagles side, forward movement was stalled allowing the Tigers to get the ball back again on a three-and-out. Again, the Tigers had the advantage of a very short field and again they took advantage of it. Tanner Cobb had taken over as quarterback and ran the ball for a first down and then a short touchdown run. The point after was good. With 2:31 left in the third, the Tigers lead increased to 46-0. The Tigers again kicked off to the Eagles. The Eagles had the ball near the 30-yard line, but a series of fouls caused by frustration pushed them back again. Then the quarterback fumbled a bad snap which Nick Moore of the Tigers picked up and ran into the end zone for another Tiger touchdown. The point after was good. With 1:21 left in the quester, the Tigers lead was 53-0. The Tigers kicked deep to the Eagles. They brought it back to near the 25-yard line. The next play was fumbled by the Eagles and the Tigers recovered. The quarter mercifully ended. The Tigers led 53-0.

With the Tiger recovery of the fumble, they started the fourth quarter with a very short field. After only a couple plays, Nick Moore was able to take the ball into the end zone for another Tiger touchdown. The point after was no good. The Tigers had a 59-0 lead and again changed quarterbacks. Charles Tillman was able to quarterback for the remainder of the game. Charles Tillman made a couple first downs and a great throw to Dundi Hamilton, but a penalty negated the potential touchdown. The next play, the Eagles rushed Tillman and took him down for a loss. Eventually, Tillman had to give the ball over on downs. The Eagles started to make their way to the end zone, but the clock ran out before they achieved success. The final horn blew and the Tigers won 59-0.

“We had some guys in different positions tonight. A really big position for us, our quarterback was out with a concussion, so we put Bryce Strawn there and we didn’t have him as receiver. We had a young guy over there. So just proud of the overall efforts. They (Eagles) tried to lower the box and take away the run game and we found a way to get it done. It started off kind of slow, and picked up some success. Just kind of took off,” said Coach Jimmy Jackson.

The Tigers will enter the championships with a first round bye. They will play the winner of the Charlton V St. Pious X game on October 27.

Key players:

Bryce Strawn: 3 passing touchdowns, 1 rushing touchdown;

Nick Moore: 2 rushing touchdowns, 58 rushing yards;

Tanner Cobb: 1 rushing touchdown;

Chris Smith: 58 yards receiving, 1 touchdown;

Terrius Rodgers: 38 yards receiving, 1 touchdown;

Dundi Hamilton: 26 yards receiving, 1 touchdown;

Marquis Edwards: 2 sacks;

Amaud Bates: 1 sack