Warriors fall to ground game of Macon County

By Jerry Lowery

On Oct. 25, the Macon County Tigers came into Warrior Stadium and literally ran over the Warriors.

The visiting Tigers took the opening kickoff of the game and set the stage for the night.  Macon County started from their own 20-yard line.  They faced a fourth down and two play, and the Warriors lined up offside to give the Tigers a new set of downs.  They continued to move the ball down the field and, with 3:30 on the clock, scored on a 15-yard touchdown run.  The extra point was good.

The opening drive went 15 plays and took almost eight minutes off the clock.  Sparta took the ball on their opening drive, and, on a big third down and 21 yards to go, Sparta lost the handle on the football in the rain, and Macon County took possession at the 21-yard line of the Warriors.

It did not take long for Macon County to find paydirt.  On a third down and goal, the Tigers dug into the playbook and added some trickery to the play and ran a halfback pass that found the receiver wide open in the end zone for score number two.  The extra point was good.  With 8:58 left to play in the second quarter, Macon County led over Sparta 14-0.

Sparta’s next possession stalled, and, on the fourth down and 13 play, the punt snap created another short field opportunity for Macon County.  They started on the Warrior 32-yard line, and it only took five plays to score from 15 yards out.  The extra point was missed, and, with 3:26 left to play in the half, Macon led the Warriors 20-0 at halftime.

The second half started with the Warriors taking the ball at the 27-yard line.  The Warriors moved the ball forward, but the offense stalled on a fourth and three play that saw the Macon County front line stiffen and tackle Sparta for a loss.  Macon County took over on downs.  Macon County once again made short work after moving the ball 65 yards to paydirt and took the lead 27-0, with 6:20 to play in the third quarter.

The Warriors had a great return from D.J. Paul and took over at the 47-yard line of Macon County.  On a fourth down and seven play, the Warriors went deep into the playbook to score the first touchdown of the night for the Warriors. Paul moved out in an eight-yard curl route.  Sydreck Leftwich hit him perfectly for the completion.  Paul then pitched the ball back to Malachi Dowell on the hook-and-ladder play.  Dowell walked into the end zone.  With 3:03 to play in the third, the Warriors closed the gap 27-7.

The Sparta defense held the Tigers to a three and out situation and forced them to punt the ball right back to Sparta.  White County could not move the ball, and, after a short 10-yard punt, the Tigers once again had a short field to work with.  After a five play 42-yard drive, Macon scored on an eight-yard run.  The score after three quarters was 34-7.

Sparta could not move the ball and, once again, was forced to punt, and a failed punt snap went all the way back to the Sparta eight-yard line.  It took Macon County one play to move into the end zone. The extra point was good, and Macon led 41-7.

After the Leftwich pass was intercepted, Macon scored on a 19-yard touchdown run.  With 4:20 to play in the game, Macon County continued to lead 48-7.  One bright spot for White County, freshman Nate Mullins took the kickoff 99 yards to add a late score for the Warriors.  Macon ran the clock out, and the final score was 48-13.

Macon County’s Belton rushed 18 times for 149 yards and four touchdowns.  The Tigers had a total rushing output of 339 yards.  With only nine yards passing, Macon County had 348 total yards for the game.  The Macon County defense held the Warriors to 136 total yards in the game.  Richmond carried 11 times for 25 yards, Leftwich carried 14 times for 41 yards.  Dowell had six carries for 17 yards.  Clark had two carries for 0 yards, and Griggs had two carries for minus-3 yards.  The Warriors move to 5-4 on the season.