By Lee Trawick: Riverbend News
The Lafayette High School Hornets hosted the Trenton High School Tigers on Friday night, Nov. 6, at Dale Walker Field.
The Tigers began the game with the ball behind quarterback Tyler Perry. With a strong offensive line, the Tigers were able to get their running game going early. With a long methodical drive, the Tigers soon found themselves in striking distance deep in Hornet territory, when running back Tristan Sloan broke away for a 19-yard run up the middle for the Tigers' first touchdown of the night. The Tigers, however, tried for a two-point conversion, but failed to convert, leaving the score at 6-0 in favor of the Tigers.
With little time left in the first quarter, the Hornets tried to mount a response, but the Tigers were too much for the Hornets upfront. After a quick three-and-out, the Hornets were forced to punt, giving the ball back to the Tigers.
The first quarter ended with the Tigers having possession of the ball and driving with a 6-0 lead. They soon extended their lead when Perry rolled out to his right and found wide receiver Patterson Wiles for an 11-yard touchdown pass. The Tigers completed a two-point conversion, taking a 14-0 lead.
The Hornets again would find themselves fighting for a response midway through the second quarter. Quarterback Mario Thomas took it upon himself to make plays with his legs down the field, and he carried the Hornets down the field into Tigers' territory. Thomas had the Hornets poised to answer a 14-0 deficit, however, a hard fought run up the middle resulted in a fumble into the endzone.
The Tigers continued to have their way with the Hornets' defense, driving the ball down the field again before the Tigers scored on a fourth-and-goal from the one-yard line by Perry with a quarterback sneak up the middle. With the extra point added, the Tigers took a 21-0 lead with only 1:47 seconds left in the first half.
The Tigers then capitalized on a botched kick return by the Hornets with their second turnover of the night. setting the Tigers up inside Hornets territory. Fifty seconds later, the Tigers found themselves in the endzone again with a run by Sloan up the middle for his second score of the night, putting the Hornets in a 28-0 lead.
With 53 seconds left on the clock, the Hornets quickly engineered a drive that resulted in a 21-yard touchdown pass from Thomas to wide receiver Karlos Murphy for the Hornets' first score of the night. The score going into halftime was 28-7, in favor of the Tigers.
The Tigers would come out the second half and control the clock with short burst runs that allowed the Tigers to continue to move the chains, until the Tigers found the endzone for their finishing touches of the night. With the extra point added the Tigers lead 35-7 with very little time remaining in the third quarter.
The Hornets answered back with a drive of their own off the legs of running back Monte Gillyard with a 4-yard touchdown run, cutting the deficit to 35-14.
As the fourth quarter began, Nic'kel Freeman made his presence known on the defensive side of the ball with another big interception, this time taking all the way back for another Hornets touchdown, trailing 35-21.
The Tigers attempted to run up the clock, but were forced to give the ball back to the Hornets. With time running out, the Hornets were forced to the air to manufacture a quick drive. But, their attempts fell into the hands of the Tigers' defense, as they came away with their first interception of the night by Thomas.
The Tigers were forced to punt after a quick three-and-out, giving life to the Hornets with 3:35 left in the game. Turnovers continued to plague the Hornets with a deflected pass by Thomas right into the arms of the Tigers' defense, ending the hopes of a comeback and the final score was 35-21.
Thomas led the way on the ground for the Hornets with 79 yards on 13 carries. Gillyard also added 44 yards on 12 carries. Thomas passed for 144 yards, completing 10 of 16 passes with one touchdown and two interceptions. Freeman proved to be his favorite target of the night with six catches for 88 yards. Murphy had the lone receiving touchdown for the Hornets and two catches for 43 yards.
"We just have to get off to a better start. We dug ourselves in a hole early so we got out of our game plan some," said Head Coach Derek Garland. "This falls on me and having us better prepared at the beginning. I believe we did some good things offensively, just didn't finish a couple of drives. I thought the guys did a good job playing the whole game and never giving up. This is something we can continue to build on."
The Hornets will travel to Hilliard next week for the first round of the playoffs.