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Flip-flop game leaves Tigers short against Thomson
The first quarter was a virtual stalemate. The Tiger defense stopped the Bulldog offense cold on its first drive, giving up only two yards. Thomson's punter kicked the ball 14 yards, giving W-W the ball on the Thomson 37-yard line. The Tigers were able to drive the ball down to the 19-yard line before they were forced to attempt a 36-yard field goal. Kicker Mark Tench knocked it home, giving Washington Wilkes an early 3-0 lead. Neither team was able to make much progress for the rest of the quarter, with Thomson punting to W-W to end the first quarter of the game. The second quarter was all Tigers. The W-W offense controlled the football, keeping the Thomson offense off the field. The few times the Bulldogs did get the ball, the Tiger defense forced them to go three-and-out. Including punts, Thomson ran only 10 plays from scrimmage the entire second quarter, gaining 19 yards. W-W, on the other hand, ran 19 plays for 88 yards, the last of which was a toss to running back Kelmetrius Wylie, who, after slipping through the entire Thomson defense, took the ball for 41 yards and a touchdown with 38 seconds left in the half. Tench made the PAT, giving the Tigers a 10-0 lead at halftime.
After the kickoff, the teams exchanged punts and W-W got the ball back on its own 12-yard line. Wingback Patrell Turman fumbled on the Tigers' first play after the punt, with Thomson recovering on the Washington-Wilkes 7-yard line. The Bulldogs needed only one play to score, and after making the PAT, toot a 14-10 lead over the Tigers. W-W started on its own 17-yard line after the kickoff. After running back Wylie got stopped for a loss, quarterback Clete Wilson fumbled the ball back to the Tigers' 1-yard line where it was recovered by Thomson. The Bulldogs again scored on their first play and made the extra point, putting Thomson up 21-10 with 13 seconds left in the quarter. W-W received the kick and gave the ball to Wylie for a 3-yard-gain to end the quarter. Thomson continued its dominance in the fourth quarter. The Tigers' drive ended a few plays later with two incomplete passes by Wilson and an eight-yard punt. The Bulldogs started their first drive of the fourth quarter with great field position, covering the 35 yards to the goal line in just two plays, going up 27-10 over the Tigers because of a missed PAT. The Tigers started their next drive on their own 20-yard line. After two runs by Wylie, Wilson hooked up with running back Jareon Small for a 12-yard gain, which Small fumbled and the Bulldogs recovered and returned to the Washington-Wilkes 19-yard line. Thomson scored on the next play, and again missed the extra point, increasing its lead to 23 points with 9:14 left in the game. Five plays after the kickoff, the Tigers scored their first and only touchdown of the second half with a 46-yard pass from Wilson to receiver Gary Wilburn. A bad snap caused Tench to miss the extra point, making the score 33-16 with 7:08 to play. The Bulldogs mounted a 63-yard-drive to answer the W-W touchdown, scoring for the sixth and final time of the half. After making the PAT, Thomson led 40-16 with a little over five minutes left. On their next drive, the Tigers fumbled to Thomson for the fourth time of the half, but three plays latter Thomson fumbled back to the Tigers. W-W tried to make one last drive, but it was too little too late. An incomplete pass on fourth down gave Thomson the ball back, and that was how the game would end. Offensively, the Tigers had a total of 208 yards, 116 rushing and 92 passing. Wylie led the W-W ground attack with 19 carries for 96 yards and a touchdown. Wilburn led the Tiger receivers with 3 catches for 63 yards and a touchdown. On special teams, kicker Tench made his first field goal of the year. Defensively, the Tigers were led by linebacker Dywane Hampton with seven tackles and four assists. Demont Gresham was next with six tackles and three assists, and then Deronn Walton with five tackles and an assist. This Friday the Tigers head to Lincolnton to play the top ranked Red Devils. Lincoln County has all of their skill people back from last year's state championship team, including quarterback/tight end Brandon Barden, who has committed to Virginia Tech. The Red Devils have averaged 10.5 yards per play in their first two games of the season, defeating McCormick, S.C., in week one and Harlem last week. Lincoln will provide the Tigers with a last tune-up before region play starts against Dawson County. Kickoff is at 8 p.m. in Lincolnton. Tigers vs. Thomson
(statistics compiled by Scott Chafin)
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