REIDSVILLE, GA -- The Bradwell Institute Tigers (0-5, Region 2-6A) were in play to get their first win of the season over Tattnall County, but they didn’t take advantage of opportunities in their 21-6 loss.
The Tigers received first before being forced to punt on their initial drive of the game.
This gave Tattnall the ball on their own 15, who would score after the Tiger defense failed to stop them on 3rd and 12.
On the following play, David Hill rushed for a 37-yard touchdown to put Tattnall on the board first, taking a 7-0 lead over the Tigers with 5:39 left in the first quarter.
The Tigers would come back at Tattnall, putting together a quick drive to get their first score of the game.
Armando Hall hit Bryant Thomas on two consecutive receptions to move them down the field before Eli Leiataua took a direct snap to rush in for a five-yard touchdown, bringing the Tigers within one point after failing on the two-point conversion.
“It was picture perfect,” Head Coach Deshon Brock said about the drive. “Everything happened how we practiced it. We just got to do that more often. That drive is what we’re trying to do on a consistent basis.”
Following the Tigers’ score, Tattnall’s Jeremiah Maynor returned the kickoff to the Tigers’ 17-yard line.
But the Tiger defense held firm, not allowing the Tattnall defense to capitalize off the good field position after missing a field goal attempt.
“I thought the defense played well for the majority of the night,” Brock said. “We gave up some plays but overall, I felt that the defense lights out. We got to execute a little better especially down in the goal line.”
No team could put up any points before the half, but the Tigers tried after recovering a fumble on the 50 with 58 seconds left in the half.
Midway through the field, Hall would get called for an intentional grounding penalty while trying to avoid a sack.
This would move the Tigers back to their own 29 before Brock decided to let the clock run out to halftime.
“We had opportunities to go up,” Brock said. “Especially with two minutes left in the second quarter and then again with 58 seconds left and we came up short. We do two-minute drill every day for that moment and it’s just a little bit disheartening that we couldn’t come away with anything.”
Tattnall was the only team to get a score in the entire second half.
First, they scored with a little under two minutes from a 5-yard touchdown by Hill to extend their lead in the fourth.
In the fourth quarter the Tigers had an opportunity to score the ball after Leiataua recovered a fumble by Maynor on Bradwell’s 34.
But the Tigers were forced to punt the ball away.
“The offense has to pick up and put points on the board,” Brock said. “I think if we put 21 or 28 on the board, it’s a different ball game.”
With 3:46 left in gametime, Tattnall put the game out of reached with Hill’s third touchdown, this time for three yards to take a 21-6 lead.
“I thought we competed,” Brock said about the Tigers’ overall performance. “I’m still disappointed that we continually hurt ourselves with penalties and missed opportunities and assignments of plays that we’ve been running all year. But I am happy and please with the overall effort. There was no quit in them and they battle all four quarters until the horn sounded. We just have to stop shooting ourselves in the foot.”
The Tigers will next take the field when they host Statesboro in a Region 2-6A contest on Oct. 15.
“We’re going to keep working,” Brock said about future plans. “As a coaching staff we’re going to come in Sunday and come up with a gameplan to beat Statesboro and put these kids in the best situation possible to be successful. We had chances tonight and we still can meet our goal and that’s getting in the playoffs if we win the next three out of four and we’re going to work towards that.”