What a difference three months make.
Eleven weeks after getting clobbered 38-0 by Marist, the Tucker Tigers turned the tables on their Region 6-AAAA foes, defeating the War Eagles 15-3 on Friday night at the Georgia Dome. The victory gives Tucker its first football state championship in school history.
“It’s incredible for the school and the community,” said head coach Franklin Stephens. “They have been waiting a long time for this.”
From the very beginning, Tucker sent an emphatic message that things were going to be different—much different—against Marist this time around. Marist’s Patrick Sullivan took the opening kickoff out to the War Eagle 37-yard line, but the first drive of the game stalled shortly thereafter. Tucker took over and embarked on a long, ruthless march down the field that featured a steady diet of running backs Drayton Calhoun, Jonathan Davis and Devin Scott. The Marist defense, however, came up big inside its own 10 at the start of the second quarter and held the Tigers to a short Ricky Peacock field goal.
Down 3-0, the War Eagles again once again failed to move the ball, punting it back to Tucker following a quick three-and-out. The Tigers progressed to the Marist 30, but they were the stopped yet again with the end zone in sight. Stephens decided to punt following a delay of game call that gave the Tigers more room for a pooch punt, and the plan worked to perfection.
Quarterback Chris Beck, who also punts for the Tigers, pinned Marist at its own 5. Two plays later, defensive tackle Nicholas Potts dragged Marist quarterback Kyle Farmer down in the end zone. Farmer, as he was being taken to the turf, threw the ball away wildly and drew an intentional grounding call. With the penalty occurring in the end zone, a safety was the automatic result.
With just over two minutes left in the half, Tucker still had time to extend the lead. A screen pass from Beck to Davis took the football all the way to the Marist 10, but precious time was running out. When the clock ticked below 10 seconds, Stephens called for a field goal on third down instead of going for seven at the risk of having time expire. Peacock booted home another chip-shot for a 8-0 Tucker advantage heading into halftime.
“It was important to build the lead,” explained Stephens of the decision to go for three instead of seven. “We needed points.”
The field goal carried Tucker’s momentum into the intermission and the Tigers seemed to be picking up right where they left off in the first half when they came out for the second. A promising initial drive, however, was crippled by a block-in-the-back penalty at the Marist 30. It forced the Tigers into a first-and-39 situation and three plays later, Tucker had to punt.
Facing an eight-point deficit, a Marist offense that mustered just 30 yards and two first downs in the first half had to get going. Instead, the War Eagles went three-and-out. The Marist defense, however, kept the Region 6 champions in the game and got the ball right back. Finally, as the penultimate quarter gave way to the fourth, the offense began to move.
Although Marist’s most promising drive of the night eventually stalled at the Tucker 33, kicker Justin Moore connected on a 50-yard field goal to put his team on the scoreboard and make it a one-possession contest at 8-3.
Now more than ever the War Eagle defense needed a stop, and it almost happened on more than one occasion. Unfortunately for Marist, “almost” wasn’t good enough at that point in the game. Davis and Beck converted successive long third downs for Tucker as the clock continued to tick. A relentless, time-consuming drive culminated in the title game’s first and only touchdown. Davis took a handoff up the left sideline and dove headlong into the end zone, just inside the pylon. Suddenly, Tucker’s once-tenuous advantage swelled to 15-3 with just 2:47 to play.
Down two scores as time waned, Marist was forced to air it out and Farmer threw an interception on fourth-and-long. With that, Tucker’s ultimate revenge was complete.
“We’re just a better team now,” Stephens said of the extreme difference between this result and the 38-0 shocker that took place on Sept. 26. “Our coaches put together an incredible defensive plan.”
Added Stephens: “I told the players at halftime, ‘somebody has to refuse to lose.’ And that’s what they did.”
Dimon can be reached at rdimon@scoreatl.com.
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