by Rusty Ellis
The Macon County Tigers broke through in the fourth quarter and scored 26 of their points in a 33-13 win over Westmoreland on Saturday night.
Tyler Gregory got the scoring started on the Tigers’ first drive of the game, as a fumble recovered by Bradon Warren was cashed in on Gregory’s touchdown run with 8:27 remaining in the first quarter.
Westmoreland had a chance to answer early in the second quarter, but a fumble inside the redzone allowed the Tigers to get to halftime with their 7-0 lead intact.
The game remained at that point until Macon broke the game open in the fourth quarter. After quarterback Luke Gammon completed key passes on 3rd-and-22 and 4th-and-8 to Gabe Borders, Gregory broke through for his second touchdown of the game to push the lead to 14-0.
Westmoreland wouldn’t go away quietly however, as they scored on a 51-yard catch-and-run that was nearly picked off by the Tigers, though a missed extra point would still leave the Tiger lead at eight.
Macon wasted no time in responding though, as Borders took the ensuing kick-off to the house to push the lead to 21-6 in a flash. Borders then showed up for a big play on defense, as he picked off a pass and returned it to the Westmoreland 35 to give Macon County a chance to deliver a haymaker.
And deliver they did, as Gregory scored from 15-yards-out to put the Tigers up 27-6, and while the home team scratched across another touchdown on the following drive, Borders sealed the deal with a touchdown to run the lead back up to 33-13, and it was all she wrote from there, as the Tigers were victorious in their season-opener over Westmoreland.
For head coach Kyle Shoulders, it’s a win to be proud of, even if the overall execution wasn’t completely to his liking.
“It was a real sloppy first half, we were playing against (ourselves and Westmoreland) for a majority of the night,” Shoulders said. “Anytime we’re doing that and beating ourselves with penalties, it’s sloppy…they sold the house to stop (Borders) and thankfully we had other guys step up. Eventually, (Borders) finally turned loose, they kept giving him opportunities in special teams and he did what he does.”
Gammon’s effort was almost an afterthought to Borders’ and Gregory’s performances, but it’s not lost on his head coach just how crucial some of the throws he made in the fourth quarter were.
“He runs our offense flawlessly, he’s more knowledgeable about our offense than any player I’ve coached,” Shoulders said. “He made a big throw early in the game on the first play, and he made some big throws late to move the offense down the field…we feel confident in him, and we’ve got a lot of playmakers on the team. We can really spread the ball around.”
Shoulders isn’t one to stick on a game for too long, and while he’s happy to let his players celebrate this win, once they step on the bus to go home, it’s on to week two.
“We’re 1-0, we’re going to take this one week at a time,” Shoulders said. “We’re not a team that can afford to overlook people, so that’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to be back in house on Sunday for several hours, and we’re going to get ready for our opponent just like we did for this one.”
The Tigers will host Trousdale County next Friday for their home-opener.
