The Mendenhall Tigers started the season on a sour note as they traveled to face the Columbia Wildcats.
Some struggles were expected for the Tigers after graduating multiple starters on both sides of the ball. They lost a two year starting quarterback in Christian Allen and key skill position players Michael Simmons, Zay Duckworth, Tabuiz Camper, and others. Defensively, the Tigers lost an important leader in Fred Tanner and other experienced players. After graduating at least 17 seniors in back to back seasons, it was evident that the Tigers are due for a rebuild. A believed strength entering the season was the offensive line with four starters returning for their senior year. This, coupled with the dynamo that is Ke’Shun Collier, is predictied to help mitigate the loss of talent and experience.
With some lingering uncertainty at the quarterback position, the Tigers got the ball to start the game. Logan McGuire started the down under center. After drawing a penalty on the first play of the season, the Tigers began their drive from their own 35 yard line. McGuire threw a catchable ball down inside the numbers on his first pass attempt that was dropped. That was the only positive of the opening drive. From there the Tigers were forced to punt and gave the Wildcats great field position. The Tiger defense offered very little resistance to the Wildcats as they easily scored on their first drive and took a 7-0 lead.
McGuire led the offense onto the field again and three negative plays followed leading to a punt. The offensive line struggled to protect the quarterback and open running lanes for Javirous Walker and Reggie McLaurin.
The Wildcats took over on offense and continued to set the tone early. Defensively the Tigers appeared to be helpless against the Wildcat rushing attack. Columbia running backs repeatedly saw huge running lanes and broke several arm tackles in route to the end zone. The lead was increased to 13-0 after a missed extra point attempt.
Mendenhall’s first turnover of the season happened on kickoff return when Javirous Walker was on the receiving end of a violent hit that dislodged the ball. The fumble was recovered by Columbia and led to a two play touchdown drive. This pushed the lead to 19-0 after a failed two point conversion.
On the following drive, McGuire dropped back to pass. Collier beat his man on a well-run seam route. McGuire under threw the pass and it was intercepted and returned for a 70 yard touchdown. The extra point was no good and the Wildcats led 25-0.
The Tigers were searching for answers in the second quarter, and made a quarterback change to freshman DK Jenkins, who represented a more mobile option in the backfield. Out of necessity, Jenkins immediately put his legs to use, but his first drive ended with a turnover on downs.
Following the possession change the Tigers put together a perfect 3 minutes of football. With 7 minutes left in the second half the defense registered their first stop and the first positive of the night for Mendenhall. Every assignment was covered for three consecutive plays, and the Tigers showed disciplined, stuffing a fake punt attempt on 4th down. That momentum was picked up by the offense. Jenkins dropped back to pass with a rare chance to stand in the pocket. His eyes immediately shifted in the direction of Ke’Shun Collier, who was consistently beating his defender. Collier blew by his man on a fade route, and Jenkins launched a well-placed deep ball. Collier caught the pass in stride and cruised into the end zone for the Tigers’ first and only touchdown. Tiger fans erupted in celebration. The two point conversion attempt was no good and the Tigers trailed 6-25.
However, the string of successes was quickly severed and the Wildcats went on a scoring rampage. It took Columbia only moments to respond with a touchdown by way of a 45 yard run. The game settled back into its original groove that consisted of the Wildcats dominating. Fumbles and interceptions by the Tigers led to long runs and touchdowns by the Wildcats. By the end of the second quarter the game was all but over. At halftime the score was 46-6. The reserves entered the game midway through the third quarter and the final score was 59-6 in a Tiger defeat.
Defensive Coordinator Derrick Jenkins said, “We’re going to fix the effort. We have a lot of young guys and we’re going to take some lumps, but we’re going to fix the effort.”
Head Coach Chuckie Allen was disappointed in his team’s performance, but emerged from the loss with new information. Allen said, “We knew they had a good team. You either win or you learn, and we learned a lot about ourselves.”
Allen called for his leaders to step up and establish themselves, and set the tone for the team and season. He was also impressed with the play of some of the younger players. He said, “Its true we’re rebuilding, but we have a great young core of talented guys.”
The conclusion of last Friday’s game serves as a small sample of what the Tigers have to overcome. It was the first in game action that several of the young players on the field had ever gotten. This undoubtedly played a role in the final results. Valuable lessons were learned in this blowout, and it was an eye opening experience for the freshman and sophomore players that the Tigers are relying upon. They have to grow up quickly. In a positive light, however bad the score seems, this was only one game and the Tigers are guaranteed nine more to get better.
The Tigers will have their home opener this Friday against their county rival Magee Trojans in the Simpson County Superbowl. The game begins at 7 p.m.
