The Blountstown Tigers put themselves exactly where they wanted to be last Friday night by beating Franklin County to remain the only unbeaten team in District 2 Class 1A. The 41-0 win improved the Tigers to 7-1 overall and 4-0 in district play setting up a huge district contest with neighbor and arch rival Liberty County at Bowles Field Friday night.
A win over the Bulldogs and the Tigers are District Champs. A win by Liberty Co. would force some type of playoff between the Tigers, Bulldogs and Port St. Joe. Port St. Joe handed the Bulldogs their only district loss a few weeks back. The Tigers gave the Sharks their only district loss two weeks ago in Blountstown.
“Our kids have worked hard al year to reach this point and they know they’re facing a good Liberty Co. team,” coach Greg Jordan said Monday. “Both team will be ready to play.”
Jordan said he felt there wasn’t a lot of difference this year between the Tigers, Bulldogs and Sharks. “All three teams play well on defense and have moved the ball effectively on offense,” Jordan noted. “We can’t turn the ball over against Liberty Co. We need good long drives to keep their offense off the field and we’ll need another strong defensive effort and limit them from big plays.”
Liberty Co. is led by senior quarterback Terrance Evans and McCray brothers, Kevin and Keith in the backfield. They have been effective this season running an option attack mixing in some passing when needed.
“They’re good on defense. They run three down linemen and five linebackers and run stunts from everywhere,” Jordan added.
Hopefully the Tigers will continue the defensive effort they’ve turned in the past two weeks against Port St. Joe and Franklin Co. After holding the explosive Shark attack to 135 total yards two weeks ago,, the Tigers held Franklin Co. to a net -15 yards rushing and 30 yards passing. The Tigers rushed for 224 yards and passed for 103 building a 34-0 lead late in the third quarter.
Princeton Grant rushed for 95 yards on 13 carries and had a 16 yard touchdown run. Darren Huff added 59 yards on 8 carries including a 16 yard TD run. Alexander Garrett had 3 carries for 31 yards and scored on an 8 yard run. Jawon Mosley rushed 40 yards o 7 carries.
Quarterback Charles Buggs, Jr. scored on a 1 yard dive. Buggs completed 4 of 10 passes for 103 yards including touchdowns of 77 and 3 yards to Leon Broxton.
Jason Money led the Tiger defense with 6 tackles including one sack and 3 tackles for loss. Jawon Mosley had six tackles with two tackles for loss. Dowling Lee had 5 tackles with 3 for losses. Paul Mosley, Frankie Murrell and Ryan McIntyre each had 4 tackles.
Leon Broxton and Stafford Dawson had 3 tackles each. Cavon Cox, Roger Abbott, D.J. Brunson, Alexander Garrett and Corey McClellan also made defensive plays against Franklin Co.
The Tigers would love nothing more than to win Friday night, be district champs keep the Bulldogs from making the playoffs. The Bulldogs must win to force a playoff and keep their district championship and playoff hopes alive.
Tiger fans need to fill the stands at Bowles Field Friday night and make plenty of noise for the Tigers. They deserve your support for the outstanding season they’ve put together in 2009.
