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Tigers blast Blue Devils 37-0
The Thomasville Tigers got back on track this past Friday, October 13, with a convincing 37-0 victory over the Escambia County High School Blue Devils. In possibly their best overall performance thus far in the 2006 season, the Tigers, who drew praise from their coaches for their performance, brought the homecoming crowd at Anderson Field to their feet numerous times during the contest as they seemed to be hitting on all cylinders in every aspect of the game. "I am extremely proud of the team," Tiger Head Coach Jack Hankins said. "We dominated Escambia County in every phase of the game; offense, defense, and special teams. It is exactly what we needed to do after last week." The game itself started on a positive note for the Tigers when they won the coin toss and elected to defer to the second half. It only got better in the opening series as the Tiger defense set the tone for the game when the Blue Devil quarterback, under pressure from the Tiger rush, threw an ill advised pass that Jake Overstreet picked off at the Thomasville 20 yard line with 10:44 remaining in the first quarter. From there the Tigers were in the end zone in little over a minute when Delvonte Harris completed an 80 yard Tiger drive with a 29 yard scamper for Thomasville's first touchdown of the night. Henrique Aguiar added the extra-point and Thomasville was on top 7-0 with 9:08 remaining in the first quarter.
At that point a determined Escambia County team, possibly sensing the game getting away from them, seemed to regroup on their next offensive series taking the ball down the field and into scoring position with a first down inside the Thomasville 10 yard line. Just as determined on the other side however the Tiger defense rose up and stopped the visitors from Atmore on three downs forcing them to try a 22 yard field goal that came up short. Inspired by the defense, the Tiger offense wasted little time getting back on the scoreboard again, scoring this time on a 70 yard pass from Jake Overstreet to Shed Simmons with 3:02 left in the second quarter. Aguiar split the up wrights and the Thomasville lead stood at 21-0. Although the first half was quickly coming to a close, the Tiger offense was not finished. Following another series where the Tiger defense stymied the Blue Devils on three strait downs, Thomasville got the ball back at their 46 and was in the end zone in short order. The touchdown itself came with :54 remaining before intermission when Jake Overstreet completed a sideline pass to Tysean Thompson who then lateralled the ball to Alex Buford racing down the sideline for a 35 yard touchdown. The play, which is commonly known as a "Georgia pass", was executed perfectly and following Aguiar's fourth extra-point gave the Tigers a 28-0 halftime lead. Picking up where they left off, the Tigers got things roiling early in the second half when an alert Joey Kidd pounced on the Blue Devils squib kick giving the Tiger offense the ball near midfield for their opening series. With the excellent field position the Tigers used nothing but the ground game to pound it in from there scoring on a nine yard run by Alex Buford with 9:07 remaining in the third period. Aguiar's kick was true and the Tigers led 35-0. Thomasville would get their final points of the game on Escambia County's next offensive series when a bad snap on the punt attempt resulted in Tiger Delvonte Harris being able to tackle the punter in the end zone for a safety. The additional two points raised the score to 37-0. That's the way it would remain although the Blue Devils did threaten to score one more time as the third quarter came to a close only to have a fumble at the Thomasville one end the threat. In the game the Tiger offense racked up 432 yards of total offense while the stingy defense was holding the Blue Devils to 167 yards. The offensive attack was productive both on the ground and in the air with the rushing game producing 276 yards while the passing game accounted for 156 yards. Leading the team on the ground was Delvonte Harris with 96 yards and one touchdown on 14 carries. He was followed by Alex Buford with 68 yards and one touchdown on seven carries and James White with 73 yards on seven carries. In the air, quarterback Jake Overstreet was 4 for 5 for 156 yards and three touchdowns. On the receiving end of Overstreet's aerials were; Kenny Sanders with one catch for 40 yards and a touchdown, Shed Simmons with one catch for 70 yards and a touchdown and Tysean Thompson with two catches for 46 yards. Although Thompson didn't score himself he certainly should get an assist on the final touchdown pass as the middleman in the aforementioned "Georgia pass" that Alex Buford scored on. On defense the Tigers were led Katrell Watters with nine tackles followed by Alex Buford and James White with seven apiece. Jake Overstreet had an interception and Delvonte Harris tackled the Escambia County punter for a safety in a pair of other key defensive plays. With the win Thomasville improves to 6 and 1 overall, 4 and 1 in the region. Escambia County on the other hand falls to 4 and 3 overall, 3 and 2 in the region. On the schedule next for the Tigers is a road game against regional opponent Southside of Selma. The Panthers who are coming off a loss to Monroe County this past week have always been blessed with size and speed and have athletes at their skill positions that can score from any point on the field. The game is an important one for the Tigers as they continue their efforts to secure the second seed in the region. Kick off for the game is set for 7 p.m., Friday, October 20, in Selma.
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