The Texas Tigers faced off against the Marshall Mavericks in one of their most challenging obstacles to district yet. The Tigers kept a steady offensive momentum throughout the game and were successful defensively as well. This performance, along with four interceptions in the last quarter, took the Tigers to a final score of 27-12.

An exciting first quarter began with a series of unsuccessful runs by Marshall until a turnover gave the Tigers the chance to drive close enough for Austin Miller’s first successful field goal. With 50 seconds left in the first quarter, an interception brought the ball back into Texas’ hands. Braylon Stewart led the charge, and after a series of runs, he found himself in the north end zone, staring up at a scoreboard of Tigers 10-Mavericks 0.

In the second quarter, a series of penalties stunted Marshall’s push to the endzone, leaving them with a field goal as concellelation. With four minutes left, Marshall made it through for their first touchdown. To keep their momentum, the Tigers would have to score again before halftime; with only 43 seconds left, quarterback Brayson McHenry made it happen.

The second quarter brought Marshall considerably closer to Texas’ score, now 17-10, setting the scene for an intense second half.
The Tigers received the ball at the half, and after a turnover, saw one of the game’s most exciting moments. A failed lateral from Marshall gave Texas High’s Javarous Tyson the chance to put the ball on the 20. One pass to wide receiver Cody Reese later, and Austin Miller was set up for his second field goal, this one from just four yards out. Texas High’s defensive abilities shone through later in the quarter when they consecutively blocked two Marshall field goals after the first demanded a replay. Hard fought, the third quarter ended at 20-10.

With only nine minutes left in the fourth quarter, facing a score of 20-10, the Mavericks were still within comeback distance. Only until, Tyriq Robinson, in a stadium shaking move, intercepted a short pass and ran over 40 yards for a touchdown.

“I was so happy,” Robinson said. “I knew he was going to throw it, and as soon as he did I just caught it and took off.”

The Mavericks collected themselves and made it a short way down the field only to be crushed again with another interception, this time by defensive back Jalen Jones.

“I feel like it was exciting, I knew that interception would stop a lot of things. Coach told me I was gonna steal the game with that,” Jones said. “I feel like I did good for the team. I had a lot of great stops. [We] don’t give up, keep pushing, all gas, no breaks, just keep hitting them in the mouth.”

There was no touchdown to follow this time, however. How many interceptions can one team fit into one quarter of football? The Tigers seemed to answer “as many as possible” as defensive back Michael Thomas intercepted for the Tigers the third time in the quarter. Three was not enough apparently, as the Tigers went on to take yet another pass for their own, this time from Marshall’s very end zone.

“I don’t remember a time I saw four interceptions in one quarter,” Head Coach Gerry Stanford said.

The Tigers then ran out the clock under Tiger Stadium’s blinding lights, to the sweet sounds of the beloved Tuba Song, to finish at a score of 27-12.

It was a relief to the Tiger family to make it out of such an anticipated game on top, but there is still a long road ahead to district champions once again.

“I think it’s still an uphill battle; we’ve got four games left,” Stanford said. “We just need to work on cleaning up some of the things we missed out on tonight. There’s just a couple of things with our passing game, and then [eliminating] a couple of untimely penalties.”