Tigers End Season 9-3
The Macon County High Tigers ended their season with their best record since 2003 at 9-3.
The final game was a second round TSSAA playoff 47-14 loss to Pearl Cohn.
Macon forced the Firebirds to punt on the opening possession of the game and marched right down the field. They failed to score after having it 1st and goal inside the Firebird 4 yard line. The Firebirds came right back and scored. Pearl Cohn scored again midway thru the 2nd and had a pick-six four minutes later. They led 21-0 with 3:44 left in the half. Macon then scored on a 7 yard pass from Seth Carlisle to Braxton Crawford. Joey Medrano made the PAT and the score at the half was 21-7.
The Firebirds were well prepared for the Tigers. Macon just could not get any consistent offense going and Tiger fans never got the impression that the Tigers were going to pull this out. Pearl Cohn scored 3 more times before Carlisle hit Michael Tirjan on a 12 yard screen with 9:51 left in the game. Even though the Tiger ran more offensive plays (72-38) and had more first downs (18-14) they were outgained on offense (284-377) on quite a few big plays. Final score was Macon 14 Pearl Cohn 47. The Firebirds were the Class 4A runner-ups last year and with some surprising losses Friday night, they should go far this year as well.
The Tigers have a lot to be proud of this season. Michael Tirjan broke Michael Dallas’ single season rushing record with 1,742 yards. Combined with Carlisle’s 1,423 yards and it is the first time in history that Macon has had two 1,000 yard rushers in the same backfield. Carlisle also has passed the career rushing record as a junior. All these superlatives are due to a great offensive line, one that should return three of the five starters next year. Dylan Butler finishes the season leading the team in tackles with 107. Finally it was the first time in Macon history that the Tigers won a road playoff game.
Congratulations to all the players and staff of the Macon County Tigers. Fans were treated to some great football and look forward to a brand new region to compete in next season.
Photos by Julie Collins