Mount Vernon falls to PG, 34-20 Tigers close season next week vs. L-E
By JASON MAYS - Tribune Correspondent
Saturday, October 27, 2007 4:46 PM CDT
TEXARKANA n It was a tale of two halves with some penalties mixed in for added flavor at Leon Blake Stadium as head coach Kevin Davis and the Pleasant Grove Hawks defeated the Mount Vernon Tigers, 34-20, on a rather chilly evening.
Mount Vernon came into the game at 0-2 in District 16-3A play and looking for some hope and momentum. Penalties plagued the Tigers (3-6, 0-3), as they racked up nearly 100 yards on 11 penalties. Five of the combined 16 penalties between the teams were for personal fouls, which at times, hurt each team’s momentum.
The first play of the game for the Tigers was a 90-yard kickoff return for touchdown by John Cleveland, which was subsequently removed from the books due to a holding penalty that marked the ball back at the Tiger 45-yard line. The Tigers followed that up going three-and-out.
Pleasant Grove (6-2, 2-0) held the Tiger offense scoreless in the first half and seemed to own the defense for a large portion of the first and second quarters, as well. Kennard Henderson broke opened the game with a two-yard run for paydirt with three minutes and change left in the first quarter. The Hawks then scored twice in the second half, once off a 15-yard run by quarterback Jake Rogers, and the second via a reverse halfback pass from Jon Phillips to Damien Watts for a 31-yard score.
The Tigers had a drive going late in the second quarter that was shut down due to back-to -back holding penalties and a personal foul. Those three penalties killed any chance of the Tigers getting into the end zone in the first half.
But as is always the case, the Tigers came out with a head of steam, and their no-quit attitude to outplay the Hawks, scoring all 20 points in the second half and limiting the Hawks to 13 points. The defense was really very tough tonight in the second half, the only scoring for the Hawks in the third off a pair of field goals.
The defense showed it can make a stand when it held a driving Hawk offense on three straight downs to no yards and forcing a turnover on downs. The only defensive breakdown for the Tigers in the second half came on a 60-yard run for a touchdown by Henderson.
The Tiger offense began to heat up and move the ball rather well and almost at will against the Hawk defense. Mount Vernon scored twice on the ground with runs of 15 yards and three yards, by Austin Sparks and C.J. Fowler, proving it could pound the ball in with the best of them.
The Tigers got their third touchdown with 55 seconds left in the game on Frank Hall’s 10-yard touchdown reception from Austin Sparks.
The Tigers host Liberty-Eylau next week.
