Tigers Finish Season with Win over Portland
The Macon County Tigers finish off the 2016 regular season with their 8th victory of the year.
In another record setting night Macon wins by a final score of 56-18.
Following a missed field goal by Macon, they did get on the board first. Seth Carlisle ran it in from 37 yards out and Medrano’s PAT made it 7-0 with 7:29 left in the first half. On the next possession Carlisle scored again on an 18 yard run and converted for two more points on a pass to Tanner Cleary. At the half the score was 15-0 Macon.
The second half, particularly the 4th quarter, was a wild one. On the second play of the 3rd quarter Carlisle scored his 3rd TD from 40 yards out. Medrano made the kick and Macon led 22-0. At the 5:07 mark of the 3rd quarter Michael Tirjan got lathered up with a 41 yard scoring run. Medrano’s kick made it 29-0. Portland scored late in the 3rd and we head for a wild 4th period with Macon leading 29-6. Tirjan would scored twice on runs of 4 (11:32) and 2 (8:56) to push the score to 43-6 midway through the final quarter. The starters for Portland scored again to make it 43-12 to stop the running clock. So on the next play Tirjan scored on a 32 yard run and the kick failed to make it 49-12. Again the starters for Portland scored to make it 49-12. So Tirjan scored his 5th TD on a 6 yard run, in a two play 59 yard drive. Medrano’s kick made it 56-18 with 1:23 left in the 4th quarter. Portland finally took their starters out and that was how the game ended, final Macon 56 Portland 18.
On the night Michael Tirjan carried the ball 31 times for 352 yards and 5 TDs, which is a total I don’t recall happening before. Carlisle had a not too shabby night carrying the ball 14 times for 162 yards and 3TDs. Both of those gentlemen finish the night with an average of 11 yards per carry. Braxton Crawford rushed 1 time for 3 yards. Carlisle was 2 of 4 for 32 yards passing with Tanner Cleary catching one ball for 4 yards and Crawford catching the other for 28 yards. Tyler “T-Swin” Swindle had 11 tackles on his last night at Pat Parker Field followed by fellow Seniors Crawford(7) and Cleary(6).
While I do not know of any official records that are kept anywhere, let’s mention a few things of note. I do not know of another MCHS offense that has rushed for 517 yards in one game. I’m sure we have scored this many points before, but 8 rushing TDs has to be close to a record as well. This is only the 3rd time in 43 years (’78 & ’03) that the Tigers have finished the regular season with 8 wins. It is the first time that MCHS has had two backs that have rushed for over 1,000 yards in one season (Carlisle & Tirjan), and we hope we can add to that total a bit more.
This was the final home game for the Class of 2017. Football, Band, and Cheerleading members of this class are: Adrian Alcorta, Marshall Avera, Hunter Bolton, Dylan Butler, Conner Cannon, Guadalupe Cervantes, Nicholas Reynolds, Jason Sewell, Tyler Swindle, Josh Tirjan, Michael Tirjan, Tanner Cleary, Braxton Crawford, , Trenton Dean, Garrison Coulter, Eric Kuster, Joanna Farmer, Tyler Fedor, Kaitlynn Guard, Chandler Hudson, Landon Cole Johnson, Jaysen Kirby, Jacob McClard, Carly Miller, Chelsea O’Hair, Jordan Thompson, Tabitha Trong, Gunnar Whitt, and Amber Wilson. The program also recognized transfer student Emmy Villa from Belgium. All the fans and parents wish these young people the very best in whatever they choose to pursue. Thanks for your hard work and dedication this season.
With the win the Tigers finish the season at 8-2 and 3rd in Region 5-4A behind Pearl Cohn and Maplewood. Macon will travel to meet the Region 6 #2 seed in Clarksville Northwest (6-4) this Friday night with a kick-off scheduled for 7 pm.
Photos by Julie Collins
