Tucker 23, MLK 13

Tucker took a lead it would never relinquish less than a minute into the third quarter. Senior kicker Kyle Wright placed the second half kickoff perfectly – just over the Lions’ second line of returners and in front of the deep backs – and the Tigers recovered the kick at the MLK 19-yard line. On the second play from scrimmage, sophomore running back Latavius Johnson sprinted into the end zone from 15 yards out on one of the Tigers’ signature inside trap plays, to give Tucker a 16-13 lead after Wright missed the point after attempt.

The Tiger defense made the lead stand up by allowing a total of four first downs by MLK on five second half possessions. But the Lions’ defense and kept things close, and appeared as if it would give its offense a chance to take the lead midway through the fourth quarter, when they forced Tucker to punt from deep inside their own territory. But sophomore punter Charlie Cooper boomed a 61-yard punt, flipping the field, forcing MLK to take over on its own 15-yard line.

Tucker’s defense forced a three-and-out, and a short punt by MLK gave the Tigers the ball at the Lions’ 34-yard line. Tucker needed just six plays, all runs, five of them by Smith, to score. Smith did the honors from a yard out to give Tucker the final margin of victory with just 1:40 left in regulation.

MLK struck first on its second possession of the game. After the Lion defense stuffed Tucker’s offense on the Tigers’ second possession, forcing them to punt from their own 12-yard line, MLK took over on the Tucker 41.

After an offside penalty on the Tucker defense, senior running back Michael Fearn, picked up 20 yards on the first play from scrimmage. Two plays later, Fearn kept a zone read off of jet motion to Jeremy Cain, and dashed 18 yards off tackle into the end zone. Cain missed the point after attempt, but MLK went up 6-0 with :37 seconds left to play in the first quarter.

Tucker wasted little time in responding. Senior running back Quarius Smith picked up 40 yards on the first play from scrimmage, rumbling to the MLK 25-yard line. Four plays later, Smith darted up the middle for a 13-yard touchdown and the Lions took the lead, 7-6, after senior Kyle Wright’s point after kick.

After failing to move the ball on its next possession, MLK appeared to catch a break when sophomore running back Latavius Johnson fumbled after a big gain, and Lion junior defensive back Cameron Fearn scooped it up returned the ball to the Tucker 21-yard line. But a bad shotgun snap on second down helped the Lions’ defense kill the drive and MLK turned the ball over on downs at the Tucker 20-yard line.

This time the Tiger offense sustained a lengthy drive. The Lions moved to the MLK 12-yard line before settling for a 29-yard field goal by Wright. Tucker even completed two key passes on the possession, as senior quarterback Myles Crawley hit Johnson for 24 yards on third-and-seven from the Tigers’ 48-yard line, and then senior receiver Isaiah Dunson for 10 yards and a first down at the Lions’ 18-yard line. The field goal pushed the Tucker lead to 10-6 with a just 1:17 left in the half.

But even though MLK doesn’t have an offense built to pick up chunks of yardage through the air, the Lions still found a way to respond before halftime. Cain got things rolling when he returned the ensuing kickoff 50 yards to the Tucker 48-yard line. Then Fearn took control, first completing a 23-yard pass to senior running back Caleb Bailey, and then running for 25 yards on three consecutive carries. The final one was for 17 yards and a touchdown to give the Lions a 13-10 lead with just :30 seconds left before intermission.

Tucker     0 10  6   7 23

MLK          6    7  0   0 13