Sweet revenge

Tigers tackle Sulphur Springs 43-7

Senior+quarterback+Dakota+Hunter+hands+the+ball+off+to+senior+running+back+Treveon+Walker.

Sabrina Larson

Senior quarterback Dakota Hunter hands the ball off to senior running back Treveon Walker.

Story by Robert Hoover, sports editor

Coming into this game, senior running back Treveon Walker was looking for revenge.

He got it.

The Tigers went up against the Sulphur Springs Wildcats Friday night and didn’t disappoint. The Tiger defense was strong, and the offense was led by Walker. In the end, the Tigers came out on top 43-7.

“This game is important to me because if we win it gives us a great chance of winning district,” Walker said. “Winning against these guys will give us the confidence to take on anybody. This is also the game I got hurt in last year, so I’ve got revenge on these guys.”

In the first quarter, things quickly turned in the Tigers’ favor when one of the first Wildcats’ first pass was intercepted by senior safety Marquan Daniels. Texas High went on to push the ball down field to the 5-yard line before getting a field goal. Then, after the field goal, the Tiger defense shut down the Wildcats, forcing them to punt. After a couple of nice passes to junior wide receiver Jarion Anderson, the Tigers got their first of many touchdowns with Walker rushing for 17 yards. Nearing the end of the quarter, senior defensive lineman Demarquan Bailey recovered a fumble recovery before the Tigers punted to the 4-yard line.

“Man we came in fighting hard, we knew this was going to be a battle from the beginning,” senior fullback Larry Murphy said. “We had to put points on the board, get turnovers, defense had to stop the offense and that’s exactly what we did.”

During the second quarter, the Tigers really started racking up the points. To start the mayhem, senior defensive lineman Wanya Jenkins picked up a fumble on the 11-yard line. On the very next play, Walker ran in for his second touchdown. On the Wildcats’ next drive, they had become desperate. They found themselves on fourth down and decided to push their luck. Unfortunately for them, the Tiger defense stayed strong and forced the turnover. Once again the Tigers pushed the ball back down the field to the red zone. Despite this hangup, Walker was able to run in the next play for a touchdown on fourth down. Later on, the Wildcats repeated similar mistakes. They went for the first down on fourth and failed. Once the Tigers got ahold of the ball, history repeated with Walker running in yet another touchdown.

“It feels good, right now this is a personal game,” Walker said. “They took me out for three games last year, and I had to come back with a vengeance.”

The Tiger offense has been on fire up to this point, while its defense was unstoppable as usual. Senior quarterback Clete Norton came in to relieve his counterpart and the pass plays started to dwindle, but the running game stayed strong. Walker was able to run in his fifth and final touchdown before getting relieved by junior running back Javon Thomas. Later on things finally went in the Wildcats’ favor when they recovered a Texas High fumble and went on to get a touchdown.

“We came out fired up. They didn’t believe in us, and of course we’ve been working all week,” senior offensive lineman Justin Lewis said. “We just put what we worked on to the test.

Things eventually started to cool off when the fourth quarter rolled around. The Tigers got one more touchdown before everything came to an end. Both teams had a few punts and a few run plays, but that was about it. When the final buzzer blared the scoreboard read 43-7.

The Tigers are excited for this victory and realize this is an important stepping stone in winning district.

“Right now we’re sitting well, of course we’re not champions yet but it would be nice to be,” Lewis said. “All we have to do is beat three more teams and we’re right there.”