Tigers roar in win over the Stars.

 

*Using rosters from Max-preps and Hudl*

** Also I want to give thanks to Dominic Winton for his help with the Stars players**

Last night I made my way to Harley Field, home of the East Tigers, who were set to battle the Centennial Stars on senior night. The crowd, which for me was the biggest I have seen at an East regular season game. Winning slowly brings their crowds to really good levels, and the Stars brought a nice group of fans along too.

The Stars defense would shine bright, starting with a sack on #1 (not on any roster I can find) by Dewayne Davis just twenty-one seconds into the game. From there, Cyrus Babai helped get a safety on the Tigers quarterback by forcing an intentional grounding call, making this a 2-0 game with just 56 seconds off of the clock.

The Tigers would take the lead at 6-2 when Daequan Lindsey hauled in a 40-yard touchdown catch. The drive went for 62 yards and lasted for 4 plays. Pierre was opened by five yards and easily outran the closest defender to find the end zone, with 6:33 left in the quarter.

Lindsey would show some defensive skills when he got to Cole Marcum for a short loss. Marcum is a nice size-to-way player who I believe is going to have a bright future if he is willing to do all of the little things during the off-season to become all that I think he can.

The Tigers offense would get a sweet 14-yard gut run from #1 on third and twelve to move the chains. Later on the drive, the Tigers converted a fourth and fifteen when Lindsey hauled in a pass, picking up 20 yards. The drive moved into the 2nd quarter with #1 blasted off for a 26-yard score on a run where he looked like OJ Simpson, Barry Sanders, and John Riggins wrapped up into one as he was able to show speed, power, and some nice moves to find pay dirt. A two-point conversion run from Ta'John Royster made this a 14-2 game.

Gavin White would score from a yard out, followed by a PAT from Levi McAteer to close the Tigers lead to 14-9 with 8:36 left in the half. The drive would take 5 plays and go for 30 yards.

#1 set up the next Tigers score with a 24-yard run. He then connected with Lindsey for the 5-yard score to make this a 20-9 game. Lindsey has always been a very talented player, but this season in this game, he looked special. If he chooses to play college ball at any level, he is going to make a college coaching staff very happy.

Marcum would close out the next Stars scoring drive when he used the work by the offensive line to race untouched up the gut of the Tigers defense for a 28-yard score. A two-point conversion run from White made this a 20-17 game, with 2:18 left in the half.

The Tigers got a big 49-yard gain when #1 found #4 (not on either roster I found online) with 2:00 left on the clock. The three-play, 59-yard drive ended on a 2-yard run by Royster. #1 converted a two-point run to make this a 28-17 game. Up to this point, the biggest differences in this game I.M.O. were that East had a lot more speed and an athletic quarterback who could throw the ball.

In the last 53.5 seconds of the half, each team would record a sack. For the Tigers, Xavier Hunter would do the honors. Overall, he would have two sacks on the night. Hunter is another Tiger player that looks to have the ability to play at the next level, if he so desires. For the Stars Freshman Marquise Edwards did the deed. He is part of a really good-looking young player that I believe will be part of the reason the Stars start winning games.

Neither team would score in the third frame. East would eat up the clock by keeping the ball on the ground, and the Stars, when they had the ball, tried to do the same. A few highlights from the quarter were a 20-yard gut run from #1 of the Tigers. The DL BURNWORTH hit of the game came when Sebastian Peoples from the Stars waylaid Royster for a loss of four.

The fourth quarter had a chippy moment or two; with the scoreboard not working, it was hard to tell exactly where the ball was and when the chippiness took place, but it really did not look to amount to much from the stands. The only score of the quarter came on a 3-yard touchdown pass to Royster to make the final score 34-17.

One of the coaches coming out of the press box said the score came with 0:26 left. The game would never actually see the score clock go to all zeros as the two teams got into a semi-fight with more than a handful of players rushing onto the field. Both coaching staffs from where I was setting did a GREAT job, getting the players off the field before any damage was done.

My Stats

Stars

36 plays

154 yards

Passing, 2-7

Tigers

60 plays

381 yards

Passing, 6-10, 3 Td's

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