STATE CHAMPIONSHIP BOUND: Macon County’s Goal-Line Stand Leads Tigers To 43-41 Semifinal Victory Over Anderson County

By Michael Lindsay

 

The Macon County Tigers will play for a football state championship for the first time in program history next week as they defeated Anderson County in the Class 4A semifinals on Friday in Lafayette, 43-41.

“What this means for our community, I can’t begin to put into words,” said Macon County head coach Kyle Shoulders. “The guys are the story right now.”

A back-and-forth contest came down to two-point conversions as the Tigers converted a 2-point try via a Zach Borders rush with 1:53 remaining to take a 43-35 lead while Anderson County failed on a 2-point try with 58 seconds left.

“What a phenomenal team in Anderson County,” said Shoulders. “Every time we’d get them behind the sticks, they would make a play.”

Gabe Borders led Macon County with 265 rushing yards and 3 touchdowns on 19 carries along with 85 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns by his brother Zach Borders.

Macon County opened the contest by forcing a punt on Anderson County’s first drive, setting up a Gabe Borders 70-yard touchdown rush on the Tigers’ second offensive play to give Macon a 7-0 lead with 9:31 remaining in the first quarter.

Anderson County answered with two touchdowns in the final 3 minutes of the opening period to take a 14-7 lead into the second quarter.

Gabe Borders found the end zone for the second time early in the second period as he rushed in a 7-yard touchdown to tie the game at 14.

The Tigers’ special teams unit went to work on the ensuing kickoff as they recovered a squib kick in Maverick territory, setting up a 20-yard touchdown pass from Luke Gammon to Kelan Hire to give Macon County a 20-14 lead following a failed PAT.

Anderson County had the last laugh of the first half as Mr. Football finalist Waylon LaRue rushed in a 1-yard touchdown to give the Mavericks a 21-20 lead at halftime.

“All week we talked about getting to halftime even,” said Shoulders. “We were down 1, but we stuck with the game plan we came in with.”

LaRue found the end zone again midway through the third quarter as Anderson County pushed their lead out to 28-20 with 6:52 remaining in the frame.

The Tigers responded on the following drive as Zach Borders rushed in a 15-yard touchdown and a 2-point conversion to tie the game at 28 entering the fourth quarter.

Following a stop to open the fourth quarter, Macon County’s Gabe Borders broke loose on an 85-yard touchdown run to give the Tigers a 35-28 lead with 10:14 remaining.

Anderson County responded on their ensuing drive as they marched down the field for a touchdown to tie the game at 35 with 7:01 left. The Tigers took over from there and went on a 9-play drive that took up over 5 minutes before Zach Borders punched in a 1-yard touchdown to put the Tigers up 41-35 awaiting the extra point.

An Anderson County offsides on the kick attempt moved the ball inside the 2-yard line, where the Tigers elected to go for a 2-point conversion and successfully converted via a run by Zach Borders to go up 43-35 with 1:53 remaining.

“We were talking about going for two anyways,” said Shoulders. “Fate had it that we got the penalty. We had a call we had on the sheet all year long for that. We put it in #4’s hands and punched it in. It pays off to have phenomenal players.”

The Mavericks didn’t go away as they marched down the field and scored a touchdown with 58 seconds remaining, pulling Anderson County within 2 points at 43-41. The Mavericks’ 2-point conversion attempt was broken up by the Macon County secondary to preserve the 2-point victory for the Tigers following a successful onside kick recovery.

“The scoreboard doesn’t tell the story about how great our defense played,” said Shoulders. “They created a turnover and got to the quarterback all night. Defense wins championships.”

Macon County’s win clinches a football state championship berth for the first time in school history. The Tigers are scheduled to play Melrose on Saturday at 11 a.m. CST at Tucker Stadium in Chattanooga for the Class 4A state championship.