Last Friday the Mendenhall Tigers won their Homecoming matchup against the Morton Panthers. The Tigers were 4 and 2 going into the match while Morton was 3 and 3. This is the Tigers’ second district win of the season.
An interview with the Tigers’ coaches Chuckie Allen and Sammy Byther showed what their expectations going into the game were.
“We lost a little focus there today. I think we had a pretty good week of practice, but, you know, with us coming in and having too much free time, we still have to learn how to prepare mentally,” said Allen.
He continued, “I just think we were off first half, but Morton came out to play. So, you can't be unfocused and not ready to play against a good team like that.”
When asked about the performance of the players during the game each coach had something to say. Coach Byther stated, “It was a very good win offensively. Defensively we are still struggling. They didn't give up, and you can't question their effort, but it's just doing what they're coached to do, to get better. They have to do what they're coached to do week in and week out.”
The Tigers started off the first quarter with a kickoff to the Panthers. The Tiger defensive was not at the top of their game at the start, allowing the Panthers to score and gain the upper hand with a 0-6 lead. The Tiger offense managed to score a touchdown, thanks to #19 Myles Womack, tying the game at 6-6.
Unfortunately for Tiger fans, the Panthers managed to score another touchdown, giving them yet another lead with 6-13 ending the first quarter.
The second quarter began with a breakthrough for the Tigers after dismantling the Panther defense with a rushing touchdown and scoring the point after to tie the score at 13 to 13. But the Panthers returned with a rushing touchdown and a point after of their own to take the lead once again with 13 to 20 at halftime.
In the third quarter the Tigers picked up speed, receiving the kick off from the Panthers and scoring a rushing touchdown for a 19-20 score. The two teams continued to swap touchdowns with Mendenhall having a slight edge at the end of the third quarterm,pulling ahead with a score of 33 to 26 for their first lead of the game.
The final quarter began with the Tigers securing a rushing touchdown and a point after to take a 40 to 26 lead that should have put Morton away. Morton continued to battle, however, and came within a touchdown of tying the game. Morton’s quarterback took a shot at the end zone as the final seconds ticked away, but the pass fell incomplete and the Tigers won the game. The final score was 40 to 33 for a Tiger victory.
Players Sed Fresh and Jay Ulmer were available for a comment.
Ulmer said, “We feel good. It's a good win, but we didn’t do a lot of stuff right. We came out a little slow but then in the second half, after half time, we came out, performed good and won the game. We’re onto the next one against Quitman.”
Sedric Weathersby, better known as Sed Fresh, said, “We went into it a little slow and picked it up at the end. The offense showed a lot of great things tonight.”
Next week the Tigers will face Quitman, who are 5-2 this season, the same as Mendenhall.
