The Thomasville High School Tigers varsity football team defeated Class 3A, Region 1 opponent, the Excel High School Panthers, 35-7 Oct. 13 at D.F. Anderson Field.
Friday the 13th struck early in the game for the Tigers. Excel’s Reggie Shamberger recovered a THS fumble as the Tigers were threatening (8:02 in the first quarter). The Panthers went on a long drive, which moved into the second quarter, but the drive ended in a punt.
Thomasville had the ball, however, for only three plays until a pass was intercepted by Excel’s Gedric McCants (9:40 in the second) and run back for a touchdown.
The point-after kick by Rossell Pena, and Excel had its only lead 7-0.
“The turnovers were unfortunate,” said Clint Anderson, THS Head Football Coach. “That is something you can’t normally do and overcome it. We were very lucky to absorb the points we gave up on them, and ended up coming back and executing well after that.
“You hope with your maturity level, you will not panic.” The Tigers “went back out and focused and play the next play.”
Thomasville’s DeCorian Cowan scored on a TD run from the 1-and-one half yard line (5:41 in the second quarter). The point-after kick was no good.
An on-side kick by THS was next recovered by Ace Thompson. “That was a big point in the game,” Anderson said. “(Kicker) Charlie Hill executed that well. We ended up in a position to cover it. …That is one of the things that (special teams coach Adam Elliott) specifically focused on as an option, if they saw the opportunity to take advantage of it.”
Thomasville had the ball at the 50-yard line. Two plays later, the Tigers scored with a 33-yard TD pass from Beau Bryant to Diego Bryant (4:23 in the second quarter). The point-after kick by C.J. Welch was also good. THS lead 13-7.
An Excel attempt at a 23-yard field goal by Rossell Pena was no good (4.8 seconds in the first half).
Diego Bryant ran 48 yards for a TD (9:50 in the third). DeCorian Cowan also scored on a 2-point conversion run.
Another long Excel drive was stopped by an interception by Jeremiah Howard (2:22 in the third quarter). THS had the ball on its own 30-yard line. Six plays later, Cowan ran 8 yards for another TD (11:32 in the fourth quarter). The point-after kick was also good.
Cowan would score again with a 5-yard TD run (7:57 in the fourth). The point-after kick was also good.
The last Excel drive was stopped over-on-downs (1:04 in the fourth).
“Our mindset has been good the last few weeks, especially going into Flomaton and winning against a good team,” coach Anderson said, “and then having to face a good Excel team. We have been able to control our emotions. We were really physical again and played fast. That was the difference in the game.
“We had some big plays on offense (against Excel). Diego Bryant had a really good night. The pass from Beau to Diego was big. Dallas Bryant and DeCorian Cowan played well.
“When all your backs play well, then your offensive line is doing a good job,” the coach said. “They did a good job with the blocking scheme up front. Watching the film, they made some calls at the line that put us in good position to be successful.
“Defensively, they (Excel) had some drives, but it was very difficult for then to do anything consistently. They were able to sustain them for a little while, but they had to work for everything they got.”
The Tigers’ physicality was important, he said. “We had some guys who recognized things, formation-wise, from film study to put us in the right places, to make stops. That was big for us as well.”
The THS Tigers varsity football team (6-0, 5-0 in the region) will next host region opponent, the W.S. Neal High School Eagles of East Brewton (6-1, 4-1 in the region) for the Homecoming Game at 7 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 20 at D.F. Anderson Field.
Tickets will be available at gofan.co or at the gate with credit/debit card.
Cash tickets will be available from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Friday in the THS Main Office.
The Eagles “are a really good football team,” Anderson said. “Coach (Hugh) Fountain does a good job. They are really athletic on both sides of the ball.” The running back, Jalen Likely, a transfer from Hillcrest Evergreen, is a really good player, he said. Their quarterback Carter Hodges is also back for this season.
“They are playing really good football. It will be a challenge.”