Tigers, storms down Squadron
Published 10:56 am Wednesday, May 20, 2009
When it rains, it pours. That phrase applied to the weather and McKenzie’s 20-0 victory over Highland Home in the spring game last Friday night.
To get things started, the contest was delayed for over an hour because of severe weather in the area.
Once the game began, the Tiger junior varsity and the Highland Home junior varsity played to a 0-0 tie in the first quarter.
The varsity squads took the field in the second quarter, and it looked like the game might stay a stalemate.
The Squadron drove 60 yards down the field, but McKenzie stopped them on fourth down.
For most of the second quarter, the score was 0-0, but the Tigers put a deluge of points up with three quick scores on the board in the last minute and a half of the quarter.
“We started out sluggish, and we looked like a team that only had 10 days of practice,” said head coach Miles Brown. “But that’s why we play: to get the kinks out before August.”
McKenzie’s first score came from Calvin Henderson, who broke an 81-yard run around the left end to put the Tigers up 7-0 with 1:40 to go before halftime.
After a Highland Home fumble, Henderson added a 14-yard run to make the score 13-0.
On the ensuing possession, the Squadron fumbled yet again and Henderson connected with Emmanuel Johnson on a 48-yard touchdown pass.
The weather again threatened at halftime, and the rest of the game was canceled.
“One reason you play these games is to see if you have any players step up,” Brown said. “I don’t know how much you can tell after a quarter, but I know that we’ve got to work on our offense and defense. We need improvement all around.”