November 30, 2015 (Photos by Ronny Samford) - The Tenaha Tigers varsity football team struggled early last Friday but ultimately defeated the Normangee Panthers by a 24-12 , however, Tenaha threatened to score in the first quarter until a Tiger pass was intercepted at the Normangee 2-yard line.
With seven minutes remaining in the second period, linebacker Tyler Mukelroy intercepted a Panther pass and returned it to the Panther’s 9-yard line. Tenaha’s Jaqualin Franks pulled down a 7-yard touchdown pass for a THS touchdown moments later. The Tigers led 7-0 with 5:49 remaining before halftime.
Normangees’ next drive stalled and they were forced to punt the ball to the Tigers. The Tiger’s next drive was ended with an Austin Aguire interception for the Panthers. The two teams went into the midway break with Tenaha leading 7-0.
Panther running back Bryson Cornish got NHS on the scoreboard with an 11-yard touchdown with 10:15 left in the third quarter. Tiger Colton Goeke broke up a pass attempt to thwart the 2-point conversion attempt. Tenaha held a narrow 7-6 lead at this point in the contest.
Tenaha extended their lead to 14-6 when Trai Gardner scored on a 12-yard reception from CJ Horn with 6 ½ minutes to play in the third stanza. Moments later, after an NHS drive stalled, senior Tenaha kicker, Abel Rodriguez added a 30-yard field goal to extend the THS lead to 17-6 with 4:54 left in the third frame.
Normangee’s next drive resulted in a turnover on downs at the Tigers 36-yard line. Tiger Onterio Thompson broke loose soon after for a 30-yard score which extended Tenaha’s lead to 24-6, after Rodriguez added his third extra point kick for the day.
Cornish broke free for a 54-yard Panthers touchdown with just 11 seconds left in the third period to pull Normangee to within 12- 24 of the Tigers.
Normangee had two drives in the final period. The first drive resulted in a 4-play drive which resulted in no gain and a turnover on downs. Their second drive ended the game when senior safety Colton Goeke stepped in front of a Panther pass and intercepted the football with just 1:34 remaining in the contest. Tenaha deployed the victory formation and took a knee to stall the remaining time off the clock from that point.
The Tigers will next face the Muenster Hornets at Forney High School on Friday, December 4 at 7:30pm. This game will be the Regional Championship, as well as the State Quarterfinal round of the UIL Playoffs.
