Withrow Tigers pick up first win of the season 19-14 over Taft


 

My second game on Saturday had Taft (4-1) playing Withrow (0-5) in a game Taft really needed to keep their place in Region 16. For Withrow, a win would be a great start to the second half of the season.

The Senators defense would make the first statement of the day when Marley Godfrey picked off a Sa"von Davis pass and then dded a 30-yard return. The Tigers defense would respond on the ensuing drive when Christian Browner stuffed Maurice Weaver for a 3-yard loss on fourth and five.

Taft would get a sack on Davis with Bryce Brewster that resulted in a 12-yard loss with 4:11 left in the quarter. The last big play of the quarter would see Davis sacked by Tion Byrd and Drayden Peavey for a loss of five.

Defense continues to rule the day with 11:44 left in the half, when Maruice Weaver was thrown for a 9-yard loss by the Tigers Erik Gayle. Some offense showed up with 10:11 left in the half with Jayel Harris breaking off a 20-yard run for the Tigers.

At the 5:48 mark left in the quarter, Aiken was forced to punt, and the Tigers were able to block it when it appeared Chineli Gilden got a hand on the ball to give the Tigers a first and goal from the one. Davis would use the work from the hogs up front to make this a 6-0 game with the 1-yard run. Jubliee Gordon was true on his conversion kick, making this a 7-0 game with 4:57 left in the half.

The Tigers defense came up big after the Senators had a mishandle with the quarterback getting a handle on the ball and making them pay for it was Gianni Gilliam as he came up with the ball with 4:44 left in the half.

James Allen picked up 31 yards on two RUs, where he showed a nice spin move and some power to pick up the yards. Allen would close the driveout with a 3-yard run to make this a 13-0 game with 2:02 left on the clock.

Taft would finally show some life on offense, starting with a 24-yard gain on fourth and one by Dowdell Jr. on fourth and one and ending with a 50-yard touchdown catch by Lorenzo McMullen to make this a 13-6 game. Taft would line up to go for two and make good on it when JoJo Pouncy caught the pass to give us a 13-8 score as the teams entered the locker rooms.

The D.L. Burnworth hit of the game came on the second half opening kickoff when Pouncy blasted Kris Bonner on the return. The clock read 7:41 when Charles Alexander Jr. made a leaping catch in tight coverage to give the Tigers a big first down with the play going for 29 yards. The drive ended with Davis scoring one on a 1-yard run to make this a 19-8 game, as the point after by Adama Pontien was no good.

With 2:30 on the clock, the Senators would go for it; Jahvion Jermom would be stopped short, and he also fumbled the ball with the Tigers Carlyun Neal recovering it. Neal would catch a pass and pay a big price for it when Pouncy leveled him with a Jack Tatum as the teams got ready to move to the final stanza.

A bad snap was picked up by Jahvion Jarmon, who then found daylight to go 21 yards for the Senators score, making this 19-14 game with 9:21 left.

The last 4:14 of the game was intense, with PJ Roberson getting to Nijia Hill for a loss of three yards. The Senators offense would rebound with a 20-yard run by Jarmon. All hopes of a Senators comeback ended when Roberson got to Jarmon for a 2-yard loss on fourth and two with 1:11 left in the game.

My stats

Taft

44 plays

227 yards

Passing, 6-6, 1 TD (all in the first half).

Withrow

45 plays

153 yards (61 in the 2nd half)

Passing 2-7 (2-2 in the second half)

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