Tigers clear hurdle over Jaguars on way to district

The Dripping Springs Tigers cleared a very important hurdle with a 52-35 win over the LBJ Jaguars en route to their goal of another district championship. The Tigers have one more obstacle, that being Seguin, in a couple of weeks. At this point they are also undefeated in district play.

With the discrepancies in scores against McCallum and the innate talent of the Jaguars, the Tigers had every reason to be leery of the outcome. Undaunted, the Tigers took care of business. The Tigers took the opening kickoff and after an LBJ penalty started their drive from the 45. Jacob Cox, who would be the workhorse of the game, bolted for a 34 run to get the night started. On the fourth play, Jacob would bull his way in from the 11. Coleman Chapman was true on the EP as he was on all of his. 7-0. 10.27 still remaining. The fear of LBJ talent was necessary as the first play resulted in a 72 TD to tie the game at seven. It had the feel of a high-scoring night.

After an exchange of punts, the Tigers scored on their next five possessions to blow open what could have been a close game. Another 4-play drive. At their own 40, Tanner Prewit hit Parker Alford with a short pass at the line of scrimmage. He did the rest with his feet. 14-7. On the first play, a pass, Lane Dominey pounced on a fumble at the LBJ 39. First play Prewit hit Cameron O'Banan for a nice catch in traffic to the two. A loss backed them up to the 11 but Prewit to O'Banan took care of that. 21-7. The Tiger D held on downs at the LBJ 48. A Prewit to Curtis Cox pass took care of the first 35. On the first play of the second quarter the Prewit to O'Banan combo went for six from the six. 28-7.

A fumble on the exchange gave Colby Collins the chance to fall on it and give the Tigers the ball 59 yards away. Three plays later J. Cox found a big hole to score from the 19. 35-7 at the 10.27 mark. LBJ finally put together a drive to score. DS had their next drive stall at the 20 and Chapman split the uprights for a 37FG and the half would end 38-14.

LBJ was the only team to score in the third. Long drives were featured in the fourth as the teams swapped scores. Prewit scored on a 16 run and after another LBJ score, Curtis Cox took it in from the four. LBJ got the final score on another run.

Even though the Tigers rolled up some impressive stats on the night, they did not come that easily as the Jaguars quickness was able to dominate at the line much of the night. The Tigers rushed 49 times but 33 of those were for losses or less than three yards. They had 15 plays for ten or more yards and 7 of those came in the final quarter. J. Cox enjoyed much the same type of night as 15 of his carries garnered three or less yards. Much the same for passing as five completions were for 30+ yards, coming on short completions and letting the feet do the rest. This is the gamble you are taking when you have to sell out to stop the run. Once you break the line of scrimmage, a big play becomes the norm.

Tomorrow night the Tigers will take on Lanier in the DS homecoming game. Everyone should get a chance to shine before the alumni and parents as Lanier continues to struggle for wins. Kickoff time is 7:30pm.

Game stats (DS first): First Downs 26-21; Rushing 49-311, 33-212; Passing 282-172; Passes 15-24-0, 20-32-0; Punts 3-26.3, 7-42.7; Penalties 13-112, 9-62; Fumbles lost 0-0, 2-2.

Tiger Ind stats: Rushing: J. Cox 25-177 2TD; Prewit 12-75 TD; C. Cox 11-66 TD; Alford 1(-) 7. Passing: Prewit 15-24-282 3TD. Receiving: O'Banan 7-111 2TD; Alford 3-101 TD; C. Cox 2-43; Ty Kaatz 2-15; Enzo Arnold 1-12. KOR: Kaatz 1-14, Austin Hulon 1-7, Alford 1-3.