FRANKLIN—The Rockdale Tigers went to Franklin on Friday night. It was cold, dark and rainy and we experienced a loss that was equally depressing. The final score of the final game of the season was Lions 83, Tigers 24.
Franklin, No. 8 in the state, finished their season 7-2 and 5-0 in district play. They obviously proved to be too much for both Big Blue’s defense and offense.
Sophomore quarterback Greyson Williams found his favorite junior wide receiver De’Andre Stephens twice in the game for touchdowns.
Williams also hit junior wide receiver Eduardo Rivera for six points.
Sophomore kicker Fernando Pacheco was called on for just the second time all year to kick a field goal and his leg was good from 36 yards out. Pacheco was also good on all of the extra point kicks. It’s almost hard to believe t he Blue & Gold went 3-7 for the second year in a row and the Tigers also lost every district game this year.
You would have to go back to 1989-1990 when Coach Ricky Ray’s squad went 0-5 to match this year’s winless season.
Those games were lost on average by 4.6 points per game. This year’s Tigers lost by an average of 29.2 points per game.
Coach Ray was also resurrecting a program that had nine head football coaches in 10 years. Only Fred Johnson had a winning record out of all of those coaches.
There are no doubt a lot of moving parts in high school sports in 2024. We can all be sure coaches and educators are not in this for the money.
If you see these student athletes and coaches tell them thanks for what they do for our community.
A culture is being estab- lished, winning is on the way, keep cheering on the Tigers.
GAME STATS
• Rushing— R ady n Hamilton, 18 carries, 74
yards.
• Passing— Greyson Williams 20 completions out of 33 attempts, 252 yards, three touchdowns, one interception.
• Receiving— De’Andre Stephens, nine receptions, 168 yards, two touchdowns.
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