Tiger offense hits paydirt, hangs with Elton until second half

East Iberville High’s young football team scored its first points of the season and held up against fellow Class A host Elton High until weariness and mistakes forced them into a 36-8 loss last Friday.

The Tigers slipped to a 0-4 start, but improved on both sides of the ball after suffering a trio of lopsided losses to open the season.

“Going into our home game this week against False River Academy, the boys believe they can win. They showed some improvement against Elton and hopefully we can correct some of the mistakes we made that cost us in the loss,”

 explained Coach Kelcy Dotson who remains patient with his young and small-numbered Tiger squad.

The Tigers scored their first points of the season in the second half of their road game when running back Nick Brooks tallied on a three-yard run to cap a drive. Brooks also carried the ball in on a two-point conversion play.

Elton led 14-0 until the final minute of the first half when the young Tiger defensive backs got mixed up in coverage and Elton tallied on a long pass. Late in the second half the hosts pulled away when the Tigers wore down and missed too many opportunities to rally back.

“We moved the ball on offense and got down inside the Red Zone five times, but scored only once. We had some missed blocks when we have the opportunity to put more points on the scoreboard. We played like the young team we are. I liked the way we moved the ball, mostly rushing it, and I thought we played decent football on defense. We simply made youthful mistakes at key times,” noted Dotson.

After missing a game, Brooks moved from quarterback back to his original running back position. Dotson reinstalled first-year varsity player Joseph Bailey to the QB position and says he will likely stay there with Brooks remaining at running back. The Tiger coach said both led the offensive efforts running the ball Friday night, while the trio of Marlon Stewart, Adrian Cummings, and Reggie Brock paced the offensive line efforts. Defensively, free safety Leonard Little led the way.

Dotson feels his club can do a better job defensively at home tomorrow (Friday) night against visiting fellow Class A foe False River Academy. “They run the option attack like we do, so we are familiar with what we have to do on defense. We are concerned about our secondary because they do like to throw the football as well and have a veteran quarterback. Our young players will be tested, but we are hoping to have a couple of players return this week to the secondary. The main thing is to continue to improve and learn the game,” noted Dotson.