Tigers Advance to TSSAA 2nd Round
The Macon County Tigers dominated over the #2 Region 6-4A seed Clarksville Northwest last Friday night.
With the win Macon will advance to the second round of the postseason playoffs.
With 7:21 left in the opening period Seth Carlisle ran it in from 26 yards and Joey Medrano made the PAT and Macon had a 7-0 lead that they would never surrender. Northwest would score but Carlisle would hit Dylan Butler for a 15 yard scoring pass with 0:52 left in the 1st quarter. Carlisle would make the two point conversion and Macon led 15-6. Following the first punt of the game by Northwest, macon scores again with a 77 yard run by Michael Tirjan. Medrano makes the kick and Tigers lead 22-6. Northwest scored on their next possession, 22-13. With 5:47 left in the half Tirjan scores from 34 yards out and Medrano converts kick to make it 29-13. Northwest drove the ball right back down the field and had it 1st and 10 at the Macon 19 but Tanner Cleary would intercept a pass and return it 77 yards back to the Viking 9 yard line. Carlisle would end the scoring in the first half with a 9 yard run. Medrano converts and Macon has a 36-13 lead at the break.
Despite the score, Northwest was a good football team. They scored twice in the 3rd quarter and had all the momentum over a somewhat flat Tiger team in the 3rd quarter. With 10:31 to go in the game Carlisle scored from 3 yards out and Medrano converted to give the Tigers a 43-25 lead. On the next possession Carlisle hit Braxton Crawford for a 19 yard score and Medrano converted to make it 50-25. Following a Viking 3 and out, Tirjan scored on a 31 yard run and Medrano missed the kick. With 2:30 left in the game Macon led 56-25. Northwest would score twice and successfully convert two onsides kicks to close out the game. Final score Macon 56 Northwest 39.
On the night Carlisle was 3 of 4 passing for 43 yards and a TD. Carlisle also rushed 19 times for 142 yards and 3TDs while Michael Tirjan ran 22 times for 221 yards and 3TDs. Receiving Crawford had one catch for 19 yards and a TD, Butler had one catch for 13 yards and a TD, Tirjan had one catch for 11 yards and Taylor McQuery had one catch. On the night Dylan Butler tallied 17 tackles and 2 sacks, followed by McQuery(7), Carlisle(6), and Avera(6).
The Tigers simply dominated the Vikings up front on both sides of the line of scrimmage
With this win the Tigers will advance to the second round of the 4A playoffs. As all four teams from Region 5-4A won this past Friday, the Tigers will travel to face the Pearl Cohn Firebirds again this Friday night in Nashville. Game time is set for 7 pm.