August 27, 2016 - The Tenaha Tigers varsity football team used two second quarter touchdowns, and a very stingy defense, to defeat the Joaquin Rams, by a 14-0 score. The game was a cross-county rivalry game, played at Joaquin Rams Stadium, last Friday. The game was both teams season opener.
Joaquin had the first possession after Tenaha deferred receiving the opening kickoff, after winning the coin-toss. Tray Wilkerson soon gained the Rams first first-down with an 18-yard scamper around the end, up to the Tigers 48-yard line, on second down and fifteen yards-to-go. The Rams drive stalled with 9:47 remaining in the opening period. They punted the ball which was downed by THS at the Tenaha 7-yard line.
Tigers quarterback CJ Horn hit Trai Gardner for a 20-yard reception, on first down, which gave THS room to breathe, and a first down at their own 27-yard line. On the second play from scrimmage, Cody Forshee pulled in a 10-yard pass to move the ball up to Tenahas’ 37-yard line. This gave THS another first down. The Tigers drive stalled moments later and they punted the ball which was downed at the Rams 30-yard line.
Joaquins’ next drive stalled after they gained one first down on a 16-yard Wilkerson run early in the drive. Tenaha took over possession at their 21-yard line with 3:09 left in the first period. Tenaha moved the ball to midfield by the end of the first period. Jaquailin Franks caught a pass from Horn to start the second period and was brought down at the Rams 44-yard line after getting first down yardage. Gardner and Jay Lloyd each caught passes to get Tenaha another first down at the Joaquin 21-yard line with 11 minutes left in the second stanza. Tenaha saw this drive stall and turned the ball over on downs with 9 minutes remaining in the first half.
Joaquin fumbled the ball to Tenaha but they soon turned the ball back over to JHS when Conner Bragg stepped in front of a Tigers pass and gave Joaquin the ball back at the Rams 5-yard line with 8:05 left before halftime. Joaquin could not get their offense moving and Tk Gardner sacked Wilkerson for a 4-yard loss on third-down and long to force a JHS punt which gave Tenaha possession at Joaquins’ 44-yard line, with less than six minutes remaining in the second frame.
Tenaha mounted the first scoring drive of the game, a 44-yarder, which was capped by an Onterio Thompson 11-yard touchdown run which saw him bust an inside run to the outside. He then out-raced the Rams defense to the corner of the endzone. Abel Rodriguez added the extra point and THS led 7-0 with just 2:21 left before the midway break.
Joaquins’ next drive stalled near midfield and the Tigers wasted no time scoring. Thompson took a shovel-pass reception 52-yards to score with a mere 8.8 seconds remaining. Rodriguez added his second extra point kick of the night for what would prove to be the final point scored for the night. Tenaha took a 14-0 lead into the locker room at the conclusion of the first half.
The Tigers’ first offensive drive, of the second half, stalled and they punted the ball to Joaquin inside the Rams’ 5-yard line. Tigers’ defensive back, Cody Foshee intercepted the ball to give THS possession at the Rams 37-yard line with 7:55 left in the third stanza. Just one minute later Rams linebacker Nate Belrose got possession back for JHS when he covered a fumble at Joaquin’s 12-yard line.
With less than two minutes left in the third period, Chase Lilly recovered a fumble to give THS possession going into the final period of play.
Joaquin gained possession of the football with 10 minutes left in the contest but Tee Giles stripped the football away from a Rams ball carrier and THS took over the football, at their 40-yard line, with 9:08 left to play.
Abel Rodriguez attempted a Tigers’ field goal from 46-yards away but the football dropped just inches short with 5:55 left in the game. Joaquin took over possession at the their own 20-yard line.
The Rams were forced to punt the ball back to THS with 3:33 left and Tenaha was able to stall the remaining time off the clock to gain the win.
Tenaha led in the turnover category by a 4-2 takeaway ratio. CJ Horn passed for 190 yards and completed 12 for 16 attempts. Tenaha had 14 first downs with Joaquin gaining three. Tenaha had 268 yards of total offense with Joaquin posting 87 yards.
Tenaha Head Football Coach Craig Horn said, “The weather didn’t affect our game plan but the soft field was tough on legs. Our defense and line, on both sides of the ball, did a good job. I feel we are improved from this time last year. Our defensive line got a lot of three-and-outs, I couldn’t be prouder. We may have left some points off the board but we did well playing with a slick ball.”
Next week Tenaha will host the Kerens Bobcats at Tiger Stadium at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, September 2. The Bobcats lost to Jewett-Leon by a 41-21 score.
Joaquin will go to Maud, on Friday, for a 7:30 p.m. kickoff with the Cardinals. Maud lost to Ore City 35-28.