ACADEMY—Murphy’s Law that says, “Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong” is still a thing. That was the backstory to the Tigers loss against the Little River-Academy Bumblebees. The final score of the game was Bees 42, Tigers 21.
It was a tough week even before the Friday kick off for the Blue and Gold. Sickness, injuries and the distractions that come from an emotional win over rival Cameron, along with a Bee team that is no slouch, was too much for the Tigers to overcome. It was not a good week in Tigerland.
The Bumblebees owned the first quarter of play scoring two unanswered touchdowns against the Tigers. The Bees punched it in from 3 yards out and they made a two-point conversion. The scoreboard showed Bees 8, Tigers 0.
Then they blocked a punt for a touchdown, but failed on the extra point try. The score was Bees 14, Tigers 0 at the end of the first quarter.
Academy scored with a touchdown pass in the second quarter and made the extra-point kick to go ahead 21-0. Senior Tiger quarterback Blaydn Barcak then pushed his way into the end zone from three yards out to score. Senior kicker Daniel Rodriguez made the extra-point kick and the Tigers were fighting to get back into this game.
The score was Bees 21, Tigers 7.
The Bees proved t hey were in it to w in w i th another quick st r ike in the They passed their way into the end zone from 52 yards out. They made the extra point and took a halftime lead of 28-7.
After the half the Bees scooted into the end zone from one yard out for a touchdown, they made the extra point kick and increased their lead to 35-7.
Because “Tiger Fight Never Dies,” Big Blue kept going and scored twice in the fourth quarter. Senior signal caller Barcak hit senior Ger ren Mar rero- Carter for a 19-yard strike that produced a touchdown. Tiger kicker Rodriguez punched the clock and went to work and made his second extra point, putting the Tigers at 14 and the Bumblebees at 35.
The next Tiger score came from quarterback Barcak’s seven-yard dash into the end zone. Rodriguez was again good on the kick and the score was Bees 35, Tigers 21.
Academy finished the night by scoring once more in the fourth quarter, making the final score Bees 42, Tigers 21.
Red zone mishaps, giving up the deep ball, missed opportunities and really the uncharacteristic play of what has been a good Tiger defense this year made for a disappointing weekend. Some might say the Tigers could have put up another 21 to 28 points on the board if it wasn’t for some mistakes. That means the Tigers would have come home with the V lit up and a W instead of a loss.
STATS— Indiv idua l statistics for this game: Blaydn Barcak finished with 24 rushes for 139 yards and two touchdowns. He also went 8 for 28 with 89 passing yards and one touchdown. Gerren Marrero- Carter had 3 catches for 46 yards and one touchdown.
THIS WEEK— The Tigers are in the playoffs and we should all be excited knowing Big Blue has talent and can compete with the best in the state. There is no doubt our coaching staff will have a plan for this Friday night as the Tigers host the McGregor Bulldogs who are 2-7 overall for the year and 0-5 in district play. Kick off is 7:30 p.m. and it is senior night.
Athletic Director and Head Football Coach Hunter Hamrick says, “McGregor is a lot better than their record. They are a hard-fighting football team, they run the ball well.”
The Tigers are 3-6 overall for the season, 2-3 in district.
PLAYOFFS— It looks like we will play the new No. 1 team in the state in the playoffs, the Columbus Cardinals, who are 9-0 overall and 3-0 in district play. Let’s go Tigers!
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