by Rusty Ellis
The Macon County Tigers won their fourth straight game and moved to 3-1 in region play with their 32-20 win over DeKalb County on Friday night.
The scoring got started early, as Macon’s Braylon Flowers fielded the opening kickoff and found Gabe Borders across the field on a lateral that sprung Borders loose for a touchdown. The PAT was no good, leaving Macon with a 6-0 lead.
That lead held up until the first play of the second quarter, as DeKalb’s Briz Trapp found Marquez Chalfant for a 40-yard touchdown and the extra point gave the host Tigers a 7-6 lead.
Macon answered with a Luke Gammon quarterback-sneak for a touchdown on the following possession, but then DeKalb hit on another big play for a 14-13 lead, as Malachi Trapp took a carry 77-yards to the end zone with just under eight minutes remaining in the half.
Gammon provided more offense for the Tigers on the following drive, as his 10-yard touchdown run gave MCHS a 19-14 lead with 4:03 left in the first half. DeKalb got in position for a field goal attempt on the last possession of the half, and after a successful attempt, it was just a 19-17 lead at the break for Macon County.
DCHS’ opening drive of the second half took over nine minutes off the clock, as another field goal gave the Tigers a 20-19 lead.
Just like they did all night however, Macon responded with a quick score. This time, Gammon found Gabe Borders for a 51-yard touchdown to give MCHS a 25-20 lead after a failed two-point conversion.
The Tigers added on the last score of the game on a Bradon Warren touchdown run with just 2:57 to go in the game, as Macon County moved their overall record to 6-1 on the season after the 32-20 victory.
“We know the difficulty of our schedule, not just our region which is extremely difficult, but also our non-region,” said MCHS head coach Kyle Shoulders. “I think that’s a sign of a good football that against a heck of a good football team in Coach (Steve) Trapp’s team, I think we did a good job of containing those guys.”
A trick-play on the opening kickoff isn’t something a lot of teams really expect to happen, but as far as the decision-making process went for Shoulders, he says he was just trying to get the ball into one of his best player’s hands.
“Anytime we can get the ball in (Border’s) hands, we feel good about it,” Shoulders said. “We know people are going to try to stay away from him on kickoffs, so we’ve got to find creative ways to get him the football…we thought this was a good opportunity to do it, we wanted to get some sparks flying early.”
The win sets Macon up nicely in the Region 4-4A standings, as it essentially guarantees them a playoff spot in one of the toughest regions in the state. That being said, Shoulders isn’t resting on those laurels anytime soon.
“I don’t think we’ve played our best football yet,” Shoulders said. “There’s a lot of things we can clean up from this game, and that’s a good thing. I’d hate to think we’ve been playing our best football…I’m thankful we’ve got all of these guys and I hope they continue to battle and continue to make plays.”
Up next for Macon is a Thursday matchup at Livingston Academy next week, while DeKalb will host Cumberland County on Friday.
