The Mendenhall Tigers traveled to Northeast Jones last Friday night looking to redeem themselves after a critical loss to West Lauderdale the week before. The Tigers drew a perfect opponent in Northeast Jones to rebound after a loss. Northeast Jones entered the game with a 0-8 record, and was ultimately at the mercy of the Tigers.
Christian Allen led the Tigers offense onto the field to start the game and opened up scoring with a 33 yard touchdown run on a read option. Zay Duckworth was the featured back this game. Junkevious Mack and BoBo Walker were side lined. During their contest against West Lauderdale several Tigers were banged up, but the injuries did not appear to be serious enough to cost significant playing time. Head Coach Chuckie Allen opted to rest some of his players against Northeast Jones with hopes of them recovering for what is anticipated to be a tough matchup against Quitman and moving forward into the playoffs.
Duckworth made good use of his opportunities in the back field and displayed a balanced running style. He made several NEJ defenders miss fought hard for extra yards at the point of contact. After taking an 8-0 lead the Tigers took over on defense. Northeast Jones began the game playing like a team with nothing to lose. First play of their opening drive was a gadget play that was good for 65 yards to put them in scoring range. This translated into a three play drive ending in a touchdown and extra point for Northeast Jones to bring the score to 8-7.
Northeast Jones was helpless against the Tigers offense. Zay Duckworth and Christian Allen had their way running the football. The Tigers moved the ball with ease into scoring position and Allen ended the drive with a touchdown pass to Keshun Collier. Duckworth was good on the two point conversion and the Tigers led 16-7. The Tigers defense fed off the crowds energy as they took the field. Momentum was on the side of the Tigers, and Northeast Jones apparently used up their magic on the first series. Northeast Jones was forced to punt.
The Tigers were stopped only once on offense and that was the result of an ill-advised throw from Christian Allen that was intercepted. Defensive coordinator Derrick Jenkins elected to use some new faces on defense. Several underclassmen were thrown into the fire against Northeast Jones. They were tested early and Northeast Jones worked the ball into the red zone. The younger players some of which were in the 8th grade , met the challenge with energy and effort. The Tigers defense clamped down and protected their end zone by forcing an errant 31 yard field goal attempt.
From this point forward the Tigers offense became unstoppable. Christian Allen extended the Tigers lead to 22-7 before halftime with another rushing touchdown. The second half was all about the underclassmen and Tiger fans gained a glimpse of what’s to come. Sophomore running back Reggie McLaurin stole the show. McLaurin received the bulk of the carries for the Tigers in the second half, and produced results. McLaurin established himself as a bruising force and pounded on the Northeast Jones linebackers for two quarters. The second half shaped up to be a scoring frenzy with both teams trading touchdowns for the remainder of the game. The final score was 52-35. McLaurin finished the game with 16 carries for 143 yards and 2 touchdowns. The Tigers were able to right the ship and build some positive momentum heading into the final week of the regular season.
Defensive Coordinator Derrick Jenkins said, “Last week was a disappointing showing for us, we beat ourselves. We went back and found that fire and was able to bounce back with a good win.” Jenkins was excited that the game allowed some of the younger players to gain experience. He said, “Some of our 8th grade guys came up to start in the program early. We’re about developing and building a program.” Jenkins said the underclassmen made some mistakes, but he can live with it due to their effort.
Head Coach Chuckie Allen said, “The effort was a lot better. The line took pride in what they were doing and we had holes to run behind. I liked the fact that our young guys came out and played for us and built that confidence.” Allen was especially high on sophomore running back Reggie McLaurin for stepping up his level of play. Allen said, “I challenged a lot of them to come out work hard and handle their responsibilities.” Allen said if each man does his job then the Tigers are a tough team to beat. He praised everyone for their efforts and said it was important part of their success.
It was beneficial for the Tigers to rest their starters and key position players for the tough road ahead. The Tigers have a firm grip on second place thanks to Quitman losing to Northeast Lauderdale. Northeast Lauderdale and Mendenhall have the same district record of 3-1 with one game remaining. Several scenarios can come into to play and cause a slide in the rankings. Factors such as head to head wins and point differential may make a difference. The Tigers are refocused and working towards getting healthy to close out the regular season at home against Quitman. This will be senior recognition night for the graduating class of 2019.
