SOPHOMORE JAREON SMALL RACES TOWARD HIS FIRST TOUCHDOWN OF THE GAME He scored on runs of 61, 1, and 44 yards and on a pass reception of 59 yards against Aquinas. There were no real surprises in the outcome of the game when the Fighting Irish of Aquinas came to Tiger Stadium last Friday night but there were some unfortunate surprises of another kind.

Aquinas wasn’t supposed to pose any real competition to the rebounding Tigers – and they didn’t. In the first half alone – which was really the only part of the game that counted – Washington-Wilkes amassed almost 10 times the total offense as the Irish (395 yards to only 41 yards) and the defense allowed them to cross midfield only once and then by only seven yards.

TIGER NOSE GUARD MARKEITH WYLIE CLOSES IN ON THE QUARTERBACK He was named a defensive player of the game for his seven tackles including three for a loss. The mercy rule took effect after halftime and Aquinas’ only scoring came against the most inexperienced of the Tiger reserves.

The lopsided score of 44-13 was no real surprise.

The surprise came in the form of injuries to starting Tigers – four of them – all key players. Fortunately, two of the injuries aren’t so bad and may not involve missed playing time.

Nick Clemmons suffered a knee injury that coaches think is no more than a strain. “Whether he plays Friday just depends on how well he can move on it,” Head Coach Russell Morgan said. “He has really come on in the last few weeks and is doing a good job for us,” he added.

Another lineman who got banged up is Casey Nickels, who has been nursing a sore shoulder for a couple of weeks. Nickels is being held out of practice this week but should be ready to play against Warren County. He probably will play only defense, leaving his offensive duties to a replacement.

Those are the fortunate injuries. One of he unfortunate injuries was suffered by star running back Meme Wylie.

Wylie set up a Tiger touchdown after carrying for 35 yards on one of his now famous and spectacular runs late in the first quarter. He got the call on the next play but a big Aquinas lineman slowed him at the line and actually fell on his foot twisting it unnaturally.

“Meme seems to be suffering from a sprained ankle,” Morgan reported. “We just don’t know if he’ll be ready by Friday. He’s getting some therapy and it will just be a matter of how well he can move on it.” However, the outlook was not nearly as good as it was for Nickels and Clemmons.

The worst of the injury news, however, concerns one of W-W’s best receivers and most aggressive defensive players – Demont Gresham. After making a 13-yard reception and breaking a couple of tackles, Gresham almost broke free for open ground but his cleats stuck fast in the turf as he was attempting to spin free of a would-be tackler. His knee took the punishment and appears to be fairly seriously injured.

At midweek, Morgan was sure Gresham would not play this Friday and said that the injury could be anything from a strain to a torn ligament. An MRI on Tuesday or Wednesday would tell the tale but results were not know by press time. At last check, a good report was not expected.

Too bad that this Friday’s game AT Warren County is second in importance only to the Lincolnton game and is at this point absolutely critical if the Tigers hope to advance significantly in the playoffs. The winner of the game will command second place in Region 7A and will therefore enjoy what may be an even better placing in the state playoff brackets than Region Champ Lincoln County.

Winning the game was going to be tough anyway. Without key starting players, it’s going to a real challenge for the Tigers. But Morgan has found some good things to count on.

Remember back at the first of the season how the coach was pleased that he had so many players capable of running the ball well. Now is when that pays off.

“Fortunately, we are pretty deep at running back,” Morgan said. “Although we are not deep now, we do have good replacements – J Small touched the ball five times and score four last week. That’s pretty impressive.”

Without a doubt. Small had 110 yards rushing on just four carries and 59 yards receiving on a single touchdown pass. He’ll be filling in for Wylie this week against Warren.

Also offensively, the Tigers have seen little success with little trying in their passing game since beating up on Thomson in the second game of the season. But the passing game saw new life against Aquinas. And it was by design.

“Our passing game came a long way,” Morgan began explaining. “We worked a lot last week on making the correct reads and hitting the open receiver. Clete [Wilson] did a great job of reading the defense and hitting the right guy. And our receivers did a great job catching the ball.”

The passing game went from -2 yards in the Lincolnton game to 191 yards against Aquinas!

Offensively, Small and Clemmons were named players of the game. Morgan commented that Clemmons is “not the most physical guy on the field but he does things right, he does it like he’s coached, and he gets the job done.” Of Small, what could he say of such an incredible game – “He got tackled only once during the ball game.”

On defense, Markeith Wylie and Gary Wilburn were named players of the game. Wylie was the leading tackler with a total of seven and three of those for a loss. “Gary has been pretty steady all year,” Morgan said. “He wasn’t the leading tackler but he did things right.”

Besides Small’s three rushing touchdowns, Wilson tossed three scoring passes. In addition to the one Small caught for 59 yards, Gresham had a five-yard TD and Wilburn snagged one at the goal line for 32 yards and six points. Mark Tench booted six perfect PATs and Aquinas rounded out the scoring by providing an out-of-the-end-zone bad snap on a punt resulting in a safety for W-W.

It seemed that the second half was over almost before it began because the clock never stopped. However, the Tiger reserves performed admirably and gained invaluable playing time which will prepare them well for the time when they are not reserves any longer.