Florala Wildcats too much for Tigers, 45-6
Published 12:00 am Saturday, October 16, 2004
The few fans to brave the cold weather Friday night saw every player of both teams get some playing time as the Florala Wildcats proved too much for the young McKenzie squad, winning 45-6.
Unlike McKenzie's last game, Florala Coach Doug Vickery played every man and no one got over 100 yards as the team racked up 398 total offensive yards.
"We came out and played with (Florala) in the first quarter," McKenzie Coach David Kirkland said. "We ran out of gas in the second quarter and then we had a couple of mistakes that cost us. But you get that with a young team."
The Wildcats scored twice in the first quarter, once off of a two-yard run by Corderus Smiley with 6:32 left in the quarter. The PAT was good for 7-0. Josh Thrash made their second score when he broke a 79-yard dash to the end zone with 9:22 left in the half. The extra point try made it 14-0.
The Tigers got their only score of the night after David Davison caught a 40-yard pass to the Florala four-yard line. Jerome Ball a few plays later punched it in with 6:05 left in the second. The PAT fell away wide and the Tigers were left with six.
Florala's Victor Hobdy scored not a minute later on a nine-yard run. The extra point made it 21-6.
The Tigers got the ball back but suffered a series of catastrophes making three fumbles back-to-back and Florala turned each into scores.
After the first fumble, the Wildcats were stopped short and settled for a field goal. The Tigers got the ball back again, but turned it over again setting up Corderus Smiley's 22-yard run for another touchdown. The last McKenzie turnover of the night setup Florala's
Rick Williams to run nine yards into the end zone. With the extra points good, the score at the half was 38-6.
The Tigers fell just short of their second score in the third quarter after Florala had a wild snap and Mathew Bush fell on the ball at the Florala four-yard line. McKenzie couldn't get any closer as a quarterback sack pushed the Tigers out of range and they turned the ball over on downs.
The final score of the night for Florala came with 9:00 left in the game as Alonzo Bell ran seven yards for a touchdown. The extra point was good to give the Wildcats 45-6.
The Wildcats were driving again on the Tigers as the game drew to a close. With two minutes left in the game on the McKenzie nine-yard line, the Wildcats called it a night and took a knee.
"Coach Vickery and the Florala guys are a real good team and there's definitely headed for the playoffs," Kirkland said. "They have a good ball club and I have a lot of respect for him."
The Tigers, now down to 19 players after starting with 29, came out knowing they had to play their best Friday night, Kirkland said.
"I just hate it the we haven't lived up to the expectations we had at the beginning of the year," Kirkland said. "We're going to turn it around though. We really need to have about 30 guys out here. Those guys in the hall not playing don't know what their missing and we need them."
Next week the Tigers face another tough opponent as they travel to Brantley.
"It just don't get any better for us," Kirkland said. "We can't afford to make mistakes next week. Brantley's the type of team that will quickly turn a mistake into a score. We're going to come out Monday and just work to get better."