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Tigers take care of business in Selma
Although it wasn't pretty at times, the Thomasville Tigers took care of business and claimed their seventh victory of the 2006 season this past Friday, October 20, when they defeated the Southside Panthers 41-16. "I thought we took care of Southside the way we should have," Tiger Coach Jack Hankins said. " Although we missed some tackles and had some break downs in our pass coverage, the bottom line is, we stopped them when we had to. And, as for the offense I thought we executed well all night." With the win the Tigers ran their season record to 7-1 and their region mark to 5-1. In the game which was played just East of Selma on the Panthers home field, the Tigers scored on their first possession of the game when quarterback Jake Overstreet hooked up with Tysean Thompson on a 14 yard pass that culminated a 53 yard drive. The pass, which was originally intended for tight end Kenny Sanders, deflected off Sanders hands into the waiting arms of Thompson in the end zone. Henrique Aguiar added the extra-point and the Tigers led 7-0 with 6:31 remaining in the first quarter. The Panthers got on the scoreboard next with 1:08 to play in the first quarter when Tiger defensive back James White, who intercepted a Panther pass at the Thomasville one yard line, tried to avoid a tackler by retreating into the end zone only to be caught for a safety. That cut the Thomasville lead to 7-2 and forced the Tigers to give the ball back to the homestanding Panthers on a free kick. Southside returned the free kick to the Thomasville 42 and threatened to take the lead as they moved the ball inside the Tiger 15-yard line. The drive was cut short however when Tiger defensive lineman Mitchell Cowan recovered a Panther fumble at the Thomasville 13 with 11:16 to play in the second quarter. From there the Tigers took off on an 87 yard scoring drive that ended in a four yard touchdown run by Jake Overstreet with 7:55 remaining in the second quarter. Henrique Aguiar tacked on the extra-point and the Tigers led 14-2. Following a series where the defense stuffed the Panthers on three plays, the Tigers got the ball back on a Panther punt to the Thomasville 47. Having good field position, the Thomasville offense wasted little time, scoring again on another Overstreet to Thompson connection, this one being a 23 yard scoring strike that completed the 53 yard drive. Aguiar's extra-point attempt was blocked leaving the score at 20-2 with 5:14 remaining in the second period. Letting everyone know they were not going away easy, the explosive Panthers answered the Thomasville score with a nine yard touchdown run with 3:08 left to play in the second quarter. The extra-point attempt was blocked by Jarrell Watters but the Panthers had cut the Tiger lead to 20-8. On the ensuing kickoff lineman Jeremy Borden fell on the Panthers' squib kick at the Thomasville 44 yard line giving the Tigers excellent field position for one more try at the end zone before intermission. The Tigers did not waste the opportunity scoring with 1:04 to play in the half on a one-yard plunge by Roya Campbell. Aguiar nailed the extra-point and the Thomasville lead stood at 27-8. The Thomasville defense made sure it stayed that way at the end of the first half when Jake Overstreet intercepted a Panther pass with :09 remaining. After receiving the opening kick in the second half, the Tigers extended their lead when Jake Overstreet picked up his second touchdown of the night on an 11 yard run with 10:39 to play in the third. Aguiar was on the mark again with the extra-point and the Tigers led 34-8. The touchdown was set up by a 72 yard Roya Campbell scampers on the first play of the series. The Thomasville defense got in on the scoring act next when defensive back Alex Buford grabbed an errant Panther aerial and raced 60 yards to pay dirt. Aguiar made it five out of six and Thomasville led 41-8 with 8:06 yet to play in the third quarter. Taking advantage of a blown kick off coverage by the Tigers, the Panthers took the ensuing kickoff back 70 yards for a touchdown. A pass for the two point conversion was good cutting the Thomasville lead to 41-16 with 7:52 remaining in the third quarter. Although Thomasville did have one other scoring threat stopped at the Panther one-yard line on an interception, neither team managed to score again. On defense Thomasville was led by Jarrell Watters with seven tackles and a blocked extra-point. He was followed by Daril Jackson with five tackles. Others with significant defensive plays were: Alex Buford, Jake Overstreet and James White with interceptions; Mitchell Cowan with a fumble recovery and Scipio Tolbert with a sack. On offense, the Tiger ground game that piled up 369 yards was led by Roya Campbell with 154 yards and one touchdown on 10 carries. Jake Overstreet was next with 54 yards and two touchdowns on four carries. In the air Overstreet was 5 for 9 for 70 yards and two touchdowns. On the receiving end of Overstreet's passes was Tysean Thompson with two catches for 37 yards and two touchdowns, Alex Buford with two catches for 17 yards and Daril Jackson with one catch for 17 yards. Coming up next for the Tigers is the second of three road trips in a row. This week will find the Tigers venturing over to Monroeville where they will be matched up with the Tigers of Monroe County in the final region game for both teams. Although the boys from Monroe County haven't had the best of seasons, Coach Jack Hankins sees some problems for his troops. "Monroe County has some great athletes at their skill positions," the Thomasville Skipper said. "We must prepare ourselves both mentally and physically this week to contain their speed. We can not miss tackles like we did last week and stop them." The game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. kickoff on Friday, October 27, in Monroeville.
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