It wasn’t supposed to be like this.
In a game that many expected to be a classic, Class 4A’s top-ranked Tucker Tigers—a team many believed to be one of the five best in the state—looked completely overmatched in a 38-0 loss to Region 6-AAAA rival Marist on Friday night.
On the first play from scrimmage, Tigers star Jonathan Davis came up with a big tackle for loss on Marist quarterback Kyle Farmer. From then on, it was all Farmer. The ringleader of the War Eagles did it all on the field, busting through for some huge runs and throwing a deep 44-yard pass to Zach Langhorne in the second quarter to set the crowd on fire.
What shocked me most in this loss was the lack of any kind of urgency and emotion on the Tucker sidelines. Aside from a fumble recovery in the second quarter, the Tigers’ side of the field was mostly quiet in the first half. Fans and players finally started getting hyped in the third quarter as the Tigers slowly started picking it up on offense, but all that changed when quarterback Chris Beck hit the ground hard, suffering an elbow injury. No word on the seriousness of the injury, but Beck did not return for the rest of the game.
The Tigers’ frustration could be felt from a mile away. A typically solid running game struggled to find any positive yardage and the penalties piled up at terrible times. Perhaps the best example came on the first play of the fourth quarter: from about 20 yards out, Marist came up with a big run before being pushed out of bounds. One personal foul later, and the War Eagles found themselves at Tucker’s 1-yard line. Matt Connors then ran it in to make the score 31-0, ending any hopes of a fourth-quarter comeback.
A shocking outcome, considering last year’s score was 30-0 in favor of Tucker and the Tigers had not lost to the War Eagles since 2003. Tucker had won six of the past seven matchups against Marist as well.
Give the War Eagles a ton of credit here. This was a very well-prepared team, neutralizing everything Tucker excels at and pounding the ball for positive yardage throughout the game. The “game ball” goes to Farmer, but I have to give props to an outstanding offensive line – the players went low the entire game, and each running back took full advantage of the holes. I think it’s safe to say Marist will climb higher than its current No. 9 ranking in our Week 6 poll (look for it on Sunday). The War Eagles have a bye week to continue the celebration before going back to work on Oct. 10 against Forsyth Central.
As for Tucker, a lot will depend on if Beck’s injury lingers or not. But don’t make too much of this game – Marist created a lot of matchup problems tonight, and let’s not forget that the Tigers were averaging 34.5 points per game before the loss. Tucker will also have the week off to recover and will look to bounce back against North Springs on Oct. 10.
Unfortunately for the Tigers, however, they will not be entering that game at No. 1.
SIDE NOTES
If you looked up at the War Eagles’ side, you saw just as much pink as you did gold and blue. Fans and cheerleaders participated in the “Susan B. Komen Cheer For The Cure,” raising money and awareness for breast cancer. Kudos to those at The Marist School for their work. To get involved yourself, visit http://cms.komen.org/komen/index.htm.
Oh, and extra kudos for serving food from The Varsity at the game. High school football mixed with Varsity chili dogs and onion rings … nothing beats that.
Arapoglou can be reached at tarapoglou@scoreatl.com.
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