By Matt Jones
A heart-breaking loss. The West Blocton Tigers lost in a hard-fought battle against the American Christian Academy Patriots. The final score ended with the Tigers scoring 31 points and the Patriots scoring 44. This loss puts the Tigers at 4-4 on the season and 2-3 in 4a region 3. The road to the playoffs for the Tigers is not over yet. They will need two big victories these next two weeks to put them at the 3 or 4 seed in the region. While the Tigers did lose the game, there were some bright moments.
The offense for the Tigers against American Christian Academy was one of those bright spots. The offensive line dominated in the trenches. Landyn Scurlock, Carson, Champion, Landyn Lindsay, John Lee Crim, Mason Elliot, and Robie Moreno were the hogs up front for the Tigers all night that made running lanes for the running backs and gave protection to the quarterbacks. The rushing attack for the Tigers ended with close to 200 yards. Nate Barron (RB) ended the night with 134 yards rushing and 3 touchdowns. Markell O’Neil also provided some help on the ground with 2 rushes for 23 yards. Trey Lawley (QB) completed 9 passes for 124 yards, and he found himself scoring a rushing touchdown of his own.
The defense for the Tigers had some young people step up. Levi Carey at his linebacker position took charge of the defense and led the group well. He ended the night with numerous tackles and an interception. McCord Sloan, freshman defensive end, got some quality reps on the defensive line and helped plug the running game. Landyn Scurlock, who we only see on the offensive line, found his way on the field for the defense. In the 4th quarter, Scurlock disrupted the offense for the Patriots. He made multiple tackles and one of those was for a loss of 2 yards. The defense played well but did give up a few big plays that changed the course of the game.
The West Blocton Tigers will be back at their home stadium this week. They will be taking on the Hale County Wildcats. This will be senior night for the Tigers.
