Photos by MERCER HARRRIS TEVERRIUS JONES STIFFARMS A DEFENDER AND ESCAPES AROUND THE END He scored two touchdowns in last Friday's homecoming game against the Aquinas Fighting Irish. Last Friday, for homecoming, the Washington-Wilkes Tigers took on the Aquinas Fighting Irish in the last regular season game of the year. The Tigers came out on top in a wellplayed game by the score of 41-6. The Fighting Irish received the ball to start the game.

John Gowen kicked the ball off to the Aquinas 17-yard line and it was returned 44 yards out to the WW 39-yard line. Washington lined up offsides on the first play and then the Irish threw an incomplete pass. Three short runs later and the ball was turned over to the Tigers on downs.

On Washington-Wilkes's first play, sophomore running back Eric Scott ran the ball 57 yards down to the Aquinas seven-yard line. The next play junior Deandre Stewart ran the ball seven yards into the end zone to score the first points of the game. Gowen made the extra-point to put the Tigers up by the score of 7-0.

The Fighting Irish fumbled the kickoff but recovered it themselves on the 26-yard line. On second down, the Aquinas quarterback hooked up with a receiver for a 13-yard pass. Three plays later the Irish had to punt the ball to Washington. The Tigers took over on their 41-yard line and on the first play, sophomore Teverrius Jones hooked up with sophomore Desmond Jackson for a 59-yard touchdown pass. The PAT was again good advancing the score to 14-0 in favor of the Tigers.

Aquinas returned the Washington kick 13 yards to the 36-yard line. On second down the Irish quarterback ran the ball seven yards for a first down. Two plays later he completed a 13-yard pass for another first down. After a loss on first down, a short pass on second down, and an incomplete pass on third and fourth downs the Tigers took over on downs. On first down Deon Jackson scored a rushing touchdown on a 62- yard run. The extra-point was made making the score 21-0 with W-W on top.

The Irish started their next drive from their 38-yard line after a 16- yard return on the kick. The Aquinas offense went three-and-out for its first time of the game. The 40-yard punt was returned seven yards by senior Lee Thomson. Quarterback Teverrius Jones ran 29 yards for a first down on the first play of the drive. Two plays later, Scott broke a 29-yard run for another first down. Jones scored on a 13-yard run on fourth down and Gowen made the point after attempt giving the Tigers a lead of 28-0.

The Fighting Irish started their next possession from their 15-yard line after a 6-yard return. On the second play of the drive, Aquinas completed a 48-yard pass for a first down but turned the ball over to Washington-Wilkes after failing to convert a first down on fourth down.

The Tigers went three-and-out and had to punt. The Irish fumbled the punt which was recovered by junior Tyrance Ashmore for Washington giving them the ball back at the Aquinas 42-yard line. The Irish took back control of the ball after forcing the Tigers to turn the ball over on downs.

On Aquinas' second play of the drive, the Irish completed an 11-yard run for a first down. On the next play, the Irish gained another first down, this time on a 15-yard personal foul against the Tigers. Four plays later on fourth down Aquinas gained a first down on a nine-yard gain. Five plays later on the last play of the half, the Fighting Irish kicker made a 30-yard field goal to narrow the Washington lead to 28-3.

Aquinas attempted an onside kick to start the second half. Washington recovered the kick on its 48-yard line. On the second play of the half Eric Scott gained a first down on a 16-yard run. Three runs by Scott and two first downs later and the Tigers were down to the Irish 21-yard line. Two consecutive runs by Teverrius Jones put Washington in the end zone for another touchdown. Tom Saggus knocked through his first extra-point of the game to make the Washington lead 35-3.

The Fighting Irish started their next drive from their 44-yard line. They completed a pass on first down for a nine-yard gain but turned the ball over on downs three plays later. The Tigers took over on their 49- yard line. On first down, Scott broke an 11-yard run for a first down. Two plays later Deandre Stewart ran the ball 40 yards for a first down and then into the end zone three plays later on third down for another W-W touchdown. The Saggus PAT was blocked leaving the Tiger lead at 41-3.

Aquinas returned the Washington kick six yards to their 36-yard line. On second down the Irish completed a 16-yard pass for a first down and then a 13-yard pass on the next play. The Aquinas kicker made a 48-yard field goal after three consecutive incomplete passes diminishing the W-W lead to 41-6.

Deandre Stewart returned the Irish kick 23 yards out to the Washington 38-yard line. The Tigers went three and out and had to punt from their 47-yard line. Aquinas started their last drive of the game on their 29- yard line. The Irish gained a first down after two consecutive fiveyard runs. Three plays later Aquinas gained another first down this time on an eight-yard gain. On the next play the Irish completed a 19-yard pass for a first down put then turned the ball over on downs to the Washington four plays later. The Tigers ran out the rest of the clock on a few short run plays by the JV offense. Washington-Wilkes came out on top in the game by the score of 41-6.

The Tiger offense put up 420 total yards led by Eric Scott with 122 yards on 10 carries. The Washington defense held the Fighting Irish to 161 yards of total offense led by Tevin Turman with 7 tackles, 3 assists, 3 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, and 1 caused fumble and Anthony Smith with 8 tackles and 2 sacks.

This Friday the Tigers travel to Athens to take on the Athens Academy Spartans in the opening round of the state Class A playoffs. The Spartans are the number two seed from region eight and come into the playoffs with a record of 9-1. Offensively they run a Pro-I offense and base out of 50 defense. Kickoff is at 7:30 at Athens Academy.
Tigers vs. Aquinas
(statistics compiled by Scott Chafin)
W-W A
First Downs 9 12
First Downs Rushing 9 4
Yards Rushing 361 15
Yards Passing 59 146
Passes 1-4-0 9-23-0
Total Yards 420 161
No. Penalties 11 0
Yds. Penalized 75 0
Punts/avg. 2/21.0 2/30.0
Fumbles/lost 0/0 4/1
Return yards 23 30
Score by quarters
Tigers 21 7 13 0 - 41
Aquinas 0 3 3 0 - 6