A Collinwood defensive lineman picked up a loose football and raced 26 yards into the Tiger end zone as time expired, turning a 7-6 Trojan lead into a 13-6 victory over the Hollow Rock-Bruceton Central Tigers at a rain-soaked Joe T. Herndon Stadium Friday night.
The loss breaks a five-game win streak for CHS and places their overall seasonal record at 5-4. Central’s loss and the Trojan victory places both teams in a tie for third place in Region 6A as both team now have 3-2 records in regional competition. Collinwood currently holds the edge by virtue of their win over the Tigers.
Both teams face regional opponents Friday as CHS hosts second ranked McEwen, while the Trojans will battle cross county rival Wayne County. The results of these contests will define the final ranking. McEwen currently holds the second seed as their only regional loss was to Huntingdon. The third and fourth place teams travel in the first round of the playoffs, while the first place and second place teams host first round games.
The Huntingdon Mustangs, who finished their regular season unbeaten Thursday night with a victory over Middleton, finish in the top regional spot and will host in the first round.
The opponents from Region 5A, who 6A will face in the first rounds of the playoffs, became more complicated when it was discovered that Fayetteville, who was the number one seed, had to forfeit all their wins due to playing an ineligible player during the regular season. According to the TSSAA, Cornersville and Huntland are tied for the top spot with Mount Pleasant and Richland third and fourth, respectively.
In Friday night’s game, Collinwood won the toss and elected to kick to the Tigers to begin the contest. The Trojans recovered an onside kick, the first of two, and began their first offensive series on the Tigers 49-yard line. The drive began very promising but stalled out at the Tiger 20-yard line with 7:14 remaining in the first quarter.
The ensuing drive, which resulted in the only Central score of the night, was a 14-play, 80-yard drive that took seven minutes and forty-four seconds off the clock. Malik Mathis capped off the drive with a four-yard dive into the end zone with 11:30 remaining in the second quarter. A poor snap prevented Mason Binkley from attempting the extra point kick. The Tigers led at this point 6-0.
The lone offensive score for Collinwood occurred with 5:50 remaining in the half as a Trojan back raced 29 yards into the end zone. The drive began at the Collinwood 40-yard line and was nine plays in length. The extra point kick by Gabby Ubieta gave the Trojans the lead at 7-6. Ubieta is following in the footsteps of her brother, who handled the kicking duties before her.
While the Tigers continued to move the ball during the remainder of the contest, penalties at crucial points of the contest proved to be a key factor. Two stand out: one of which was a block in the back after a long run, and the other resulted from an ineligible receiver being down field on a play that took the ball deep into Trojan territory.
On the night the Tigers outgained the Trojans 14-5 in first downs and won the time of possession battle.
For Collinwood three lost fumbles was a major factor in disrupting their offense. Thomas Crews, Dylan Wortham, and Steven Rich recovered the turnovers for the Tigers.
Both teams played hard nose football on both sides of the ball as some of the hardest licks either team had given or received this season occurred. The hard play continued until the end of the contest.
Next week the Tigers will host the McEwen Warriors in a regional contest that will decide the final standing of the playoff teams from Region 5A. Game time is 7:00. Airtime on The Catfish 99.7 is 6:15 p.m. and features an interview with Tiger head coach Jamie Williams. The broadcast may also be accessed at wrjbradio.com.
Tune in to WRJB 95.9 following the Camden-Sycamore game for the Maddox Insurance Scoreboard Show. The show, hosted by Luke Crutchfield and Dylan Powley, will feature scores, regional standings, a look at the playoff picture, and interviews with local fans and coaches.
Special Thanks to Joyce Smothers for statistics and Christie Graves for photographs.
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1989 State Champs Honored
At half time of the contest, members of the 1989 state championship football team were honored.
The 1989 season began with the Tigers losing at home to defending state champion DCA 28-7. Following this loss, the Tigers won 14 consecutive games in route to a rematch with DCA at the Clinic Bowl at Vanderbilt.
DCA was led by Scooter Edwards, who was a two-time winner of the Mr. Football Award. The Tigers never trailed in the contest and defeated DCA 21-6 for the state title.
Current CHS head football coach Jamie Williams scored the last touchdown in the contest. Other members of the Tigers coaching staff who were members of the squad are Trey Crews and Ryan Bullington.
The 1989 coaching staff was led by head coach Rod Sturdivant and assistant Jackie McGee. These two men would lead the Tigers to two more appearances in the championship game. David Noles joined the staff and was part of the coaching staff for the 1995 team.
Flash Melton and I had the privilege of broadcasting all three state championship games. A full article will be devoted to these extraordinary teams in December.
