Tigers defeat Westmoreland Eagles
In a rival game between two communities separated by about 18 miles, Macon County came away with a victory over the Westmoreland Eagles 20-15.
Following possessions by both teams, the Tigers capitalized on an Eagle turnover and scored with 1:43 left in the first period on a Kyle Shockley quarterback sneak. The extra point was no good and Macon had a 6-0 lead.
At the 10:50 mark of the second quarter Shockley hit Gabe Borders in stride for a 73 yard touchdown pass. Bryson Higgins made the PAT and the Tigers led 13-0.
Now any Macon fan that hasn’t seen a few of these games would know that it wasn’t over by a long shot. The Eagles came back on the next possession and scored on a 17 yard run by Cameron Eden. The extra point was blocked and the score was 13-6 at the break.
Westmoreland would tie the game at 13-13 with another touchdown run by Eden of 14 yards and a successful PAT by Dickens. However on the ensuing kick-off Gabe Borders returned it 93 yards for a special teams’ touchdown. Higgins made the PAT and Macon re-took the lead 20-13 at the 0:52 mark of the third quarter.
The Eagles next drive would stall and a punt pinned the Tigers inside their five yard line. Westmoreland would record a safety against the Tigers to pull within five with 4:53 left in the contest. However the Tigers defense would hold on making the final score Macon Co 20 Westmoreland 15.
For the game Kyle Shockley was 6 of 10 passing for 139 yards and one score. He also ran it eight times for -10 yards and a touchdown. Zach Borders had nine rushes for 39 yards and two catches for 35 yards. Twin brother Gabe Borders had nine runs for 28 yards but caught three balls for 103 yards and one touchdown. Braden Warren rushed twice for 17 yards and Tyler Gregory ran twice for six yards. Warren also had one catch.
Senior Mason Swindle led the way for the Tiger defense with 11 tackles. He was followed by Zach Borders with eight, Braylon Flowers with seven, Jo Jo Scott with seven, and Tyler Gregory with five.
With the severe shortage of officials, every high school playing football in Tennessee was told that they had to schedule a game either on Thursday or Saturday so officials could cover all the games. Therefore Macon County will face DeKalb County this Thursday night, in Smithville, for the first region contest of the season.
DeKalb County enters the game 2-0 with wins over Warren County (35-34) and Smith County (17-14). Kick-off is scheduled for 7 pm.
(Photos by Julie Collins)
