FB: No.4 Tigers too much for Joaquin, 34-0
during first-half action of Saturday's season opener. Davis rushed for
97 yards and passed for 67 yards in the Tigers' 34-0 win. (Photo by
John Krueger)
JOAQUIN -- As rivalries go, the 2010 version of the Tenaha-Joaquin football showdown didn't have the glitter of years past. Both teams still wanted to start the season by taking care of their arch rival, but in the end it was the No.4-ranked (Associated Press) Tigers who captured their 13th game in their last 14 tries with a 34-0 win here at Ram Stadium Saturday night.
The contest did have an oddity or two. For example, it was originally scheduled to take place on Friday, but because of a mix-up in scheduling with the officials, none showed up and the crowd had to be told to go home and come back on Saturday.
That didn't faze the Tigers, who received 118 yards rushing and a touchdown from Chavis Gregory and 94 yards and three scores by quarterback Reginald Davis to pick up the win.
Tenaha outgained Joaquin 359-182 in the game as the Tigers built a commanding 27-0 lead at the break and then coasted in the second half.
"As a coach, anytime you get out of your routine you kind of get worried about it," Tenaha Head Coach Terry Ward said of the game change. "I was a little concerned, but our kids are resilient. I knew we had a pretty good game plan and we just had to just come in and execute it. I thought our kids handled it pretty well."
Handle it well they did as the Tigers picked up 292 yards on the ground and 67 more through the air, with Davis completing 5-of-10 passes for 67 yards. Octavius Griffith was Davis' favorite target, catching four passes for 59 yards. Keitron Smith caught the other pass for eight yards.
"We came in here and took what they gave us," Ward explained. "When they gave us the pass we took it; sometimes we took advantage of it and sometimes we didn't. We made our share of mistakes, so we have to go back now and fix them and get better. But that's what happens in Week 0."
Tenaha's Sadara Wilson ran for 71 yards and a score as Tenaha averaged an impressive 10.4-yards per rushing play.
"We feel like if we always take care of ourselves, the other things will pretty much take care of themselves," the Tiger coach stated. "We do scout and we check teams' tendencies, but we mostly come in and don't want to beat ourselves by making a lot of costly mistakes.
"For the most part tonight, our kids bowed their necks and they played hard. I'm very proud of them, especially defensively. They did a great job."
The Rams didn't go down easy. They finished the game with 182 yards on the ground, averaging 3.7 per rush. They also converted 3-of-4 on 4th down conversion.
Austin Bloodgood was the workhorse for the Rams, carrying the pigskin 16 times for 127 yards. Kain Yates added 52 yards on 19 carries.
Joaquin quarterback Will Vaughn completed 1-of-4 passes, with his only completion coming to Wyatt Hairgrove, who gained 12 yards on the play.
Tenaha junior linebacker Keitron Smith led the Tiger defensive charge, tallying 15 tackles. Devonta Williams added six tackles, while Sadara Wilson posted five.
"I thought our defense played outstanding," Ward said. "Anytime you can come out and you can shut a team like Joaquin down and shut them out you're playing a great ballgame.
"I was concerned if we were going to be in shape to do it, and we did suffer from a few cramps, but for the most part our kids did a great job when they had to."
Tenaha set the tone early by taking the opening kickoff and quickly sticking the ball into the endzone. The 4-play, 67-yard drive consisted of runs of 35 and 40 yards by Davis. The quarterback also did the honors on a 7-yard TD scamper. Jose Campos barely cleared the crossbar on the PAT and THS led 7-0 with just 1:36 gone.
A Joaquin turnover was turned into six more points for Tenaha later in the opening quarter. Jakelvin Cooper pounced on a Bloodgood fumble and the Tigers were in business at the JHS 25-yard line.
Six plays after the fumble, Davis scored on a five-yard run up the middle out of the shotgun formation and Tenaha had increased its lead to 13-0 with 1:54 left in the opening stanza.
Joaquin was unable to generate a first down on its next offensive possession and punted the ball back to the Tigers. Tenaha drove 61 yards in six plays as Gregory followed the blocks of Cooper and LaDarren Cooks and broke free for a 29-yard scoring jaunt. Davis added the 2-point conversion to create a 21-0 Tenaha lead with 9:14 still left before the half.
Another three-and-out turned the ball back to Tenaha and the Tigers moved 62 yards in five plays and used 1:58 of the clock to stretch the lead to 27-0. Davis scored on a keeper from eight yards out up the middle.
Joaquin took the ensuing kickoff with 4:58 left in the half and converted a pair of 4th-down conversion and advanced to the red zone. But the half ended with Bloodgood being tackled at the 6-yard line.
Neither team generated much offense in the third quarter. Griffith returned a punt 15 yards to the Tenaha 41 with less than four minutes remaining in the period. On the second play after the change in possession, Wilson broke free for a 52-yard scoring run. The point after by Campos closed the scoring with 2:52 still remaining in the third.
Tenaha will now try to stay unbeaten this Friday when they host Timpson (0-1) at Tiger Stadium at 7:30 p.m. Joaquin (0-1) will visit Shelbyville (1-0).
Click here to view Ray Jackson's photos of the game.
Click here to view Rusty Wilson' photos of the game.
John Krueger's email address is pineywoodssports@yahoo.com.
STATS AT A GLANCE
THS JHS
First Downs 11 7
Rushes-Yards 28-292 49-182
Passing Yards 67 12
Total Yards 359 194
Passes 5-10-0 1-4-0
Punts 3-32.7 5-34.0
Fumbles 3-2 3-2
Penalties-Yards 4-35 3-15
3rd Dwn Conv. 1/7 3/14
4th Dwn Conv. 2/2 3/4
SCORING BY QUARTERS
Tenaha 13 14 07 00 = 34
Joaquin 00 00 00 00 = 00
INDIVIDUAL STAT LEADERS
Rushing
Tenaha: Chavis Gregory 8-118 TD; Reginald Davis 11-94 3TD; Sadara Wilson 7-71 TD; Assuntay Cleaver 1-11. Joaquin: Austin Bloodgood 16-127; Kain Yates 19-52; Tra Rogers 2-6.
Passing
Tenaha: Reginald Davis 5-10-0 67. Joaquin: Will Vaughn 1-4-0 12 yards.
Receiving
Tenaha: Octavius Griffith 4-59; Keitron Smith 1-8. Joaquin: Wyatt Hairgrove 1-12.
Records / Next Up
Tenaha 1-0 / Oct. 3 vs. Timpson. Joaquin 0-1 / Sept. 3 at Shelbyville.