The Ruleville Central High Tigers were finally able to get their 2018 football season underway and they made it pay off.
After seeing their original season-opening game washed away two weeks ago, the Tigers gave new Head Coach Damaris Mitchell his first victory at Ruleville Central High by way of a 26-14 home-field win over North Side High of Shelby last Friday night.
“We started slow but the kids did a good job as the game wore on,” said Mitchell. “We actually got to play a full game and I’m proud of the kids for the way the kids adjusted to it. I was especially proud of the way they were dealing with being down by a 14-0 score.”
Indeed, the Tigers spotted the Gators from North Side High that 14-0 halftime score before storming back with 26 unanswered points in the second half to claim the game.
With that come-from-behind victory now behind them, the Tigers will come to Gentry High School this week to play a 1-1 Rams squad, fresh off a 28-20 victory over Port Gibson High School.
This Friday’s 7 p.m. kickoff will begin the latest edition of the Unity Bowl played between this pair of Sunflower County Consolidated School District teams. “Gentry High is well-coached and it is one of those games where the kids know each other, so a pep talk is not needed before this game”, said Coach Mitchell.
While picking up another victory will be the immediate goal of the Tigers, the game also offers the opportunity of avenging last season’s 22-8 loss suffered to the Rams.
In this cross-county series, since 2004 Gentry High owns an 11-3 series advantage; the Tigers are also 1-11 against the Rams in the last dozen meetings.
In last week’s win over North Side High, the Tigers opened their second half rally scoring when quarterback Joseph Perez skirted in from three yards out to move the score to a 14-6 margin.
However, the Tigers hit paydirt again in the second period when Darious Townsend scored his first of two TD’s on the night with a 32 yard sprint to the endzone. Townsend then added a two-point conversion run to knot the score at 14 points.
Meanwhile, the Tigers’ defense was well on their way to turning in an impressive second half shutout of the Gators.
The game then became owned by the Tigers in the third period as a 10 yard touchdown pass from Perez to Markevean Graham gave Ruleville Central a permanent lead.
Registering the game’s final score of the night was Townsend, as he bolted 12 yards to the end zone as the Tigers reached their dozen point margin of victory.
Offensively, the Tigers earned 244 rushing yards as Townsend’s 122 yards on 17 carries paced the team. Casey Washington just missed the century mark in rushing as his 12 carries generated another 90 yards of offense.
Through the air, Perez completed five of his nine passes for 74 yards and a touchdown.
Phabian Carter served as his primary receiver as he pulled in two passes which picked up 48 yards.
Defensively, Jeremiah Surney’s play at linebacker produced an outstanding nine tackles to go along with one quarterback sack.
