By Michael Lindsay
The Macon County Tigers (10-2) are headed back to the Class 4A state quarterfinals as they traveled to Baxter Friday night and took down the previously-undefeated #1-ranked Upperman Bees (11-1), 28-15.
“We tried to run the football and control the clock,” said Macon County head coach Kyle Shoulders. “We wanted to make sure we didn’t leave any doubt tonight. We set a goal for this week and went out and accomplished it.”
Macon County had lost 9 consecutive games to the Bees including a 35-34 loss in week 3 of the regular season.
“I’d be a fool to not mention our community, student section, band and cheerleaders and the impact they had on our guys,” added Shoulders. “I couldn’t more proud of everybody involved wearing blue.”
Brothers Zach and Gabe Borders led the Tigers offensively as Zach posted 178 rushing yards and a touchdown on 21 carries along with Gabe recording 105 yards and a score on 12 attempts.
Following a scoreless first quarter, Macon County found the end zone early in the second quarter as a long Zach Borders run set up a 4-yard Brennan Flowers touchdown rush to give the Tigers a 7-0 lead with 9:00 left in the second quarter, a score that stood until halftime.
Macon County extended their lead to 14 points with 3:47 left in the third quarter as Zach Borders rushed in a 13-yard touchdown.
The Tiger defense stepped up on the ensuing possession as Bradyn Hasse picked off a Bee pass attempt to set up Macon County in Upperman territory.
Macon County capitalized on the field position and punched in a 1-yard Luke Gammon touchdown to open the fourth quarter and take a 21-0 lead.
Upperman bounced back and scored on the following drive as Bronzden Chaffin hit Theo Brown for a touchdown pass to cut their deficit to 21-7 with 7:03 remaining.
The Tigers responded with a 13-yard Gabe Borders touchdown run to take a 28-7 lead with 3:41 left. Upperman’s Ethan Palk found the end zone with 2 minutes remaining for the game’s final touchdown to make the final score 28-15 in favor of Macon County.
The Tigers advance to next week’s Class 4A quarterfinal round against a familiar foe in White County (10-2), a Region 4-4A opponent who defeated the Tigers 34-18 on Sept. 27.
“There’s no reason for us to be out here celebrating too heavily,” said Shoulders. “This is by no means where we want to stop.”
