Sep. 22—TERRELL — Corsicana’s Tigers opened district play Friday night on the road in Terrell, where they played well before hitting a wall against arguably the best team they’ve played this season in a 38-6 loss.
The Tigers had their best start of the year, jumping out to a 6-0 lead in the first quarter when sophomore quarterback JaBraylon Jones connected with Andre Ibanez for a 7-yard touchdown.
Ibanez, a junior receiver who was the top kicker in the district and the Golden Circle a year ago, missed the last two games, but returned to score his first touchdown of the season.
The Tiger defense stayed tough and trailed 14-6 at halftime and 17-6 after three quarters before Terrell broke the game open in the fourth, scoring 21 points in the final eight minutes.
“I love the way our guys came out ready to play at the start of the game and the first half,” Tiger Coach Eugene Rogers said. “We came out ready to win. We aren’t seasoned enough to overcome (questionable calls) and continue to play through negative situations that we put ourselves in. We will continue to prepare to win football games.”
The Tiger offense improved in two big categories with fewer penalties and fewer turnovers Friday than in recent games and the Tiger’s young defense played exceptionally until late in the game.
The Tiger defense got outstanding performances from sophomore linebacker Allen Walker, who led the way with 10 tackles, including four solos, and junior defensive back Markiece Cooks, who had nine tackles, including two solos.
The Tiger D combined for five plays for losses as sophomore defensive back Amontra Mccowan, sophomore defensive back Frank Jackson, junior defensive end Josiah Lopez, senior defensive end Montray Bush and senior linebacker Hector Cervantes all came through with tackles for losses.
The Tigers held Terrell to just 19 yards in the air but had trouble stopping the ground game as Terrell rushed for five touchdowns, including three by quarterback Kooper Kennimer.
Mark Brown continued to make big plays on both sides of the line and once again ran hard before finishing with 70 yards on 15 carries. Sophomore tailback Kenan Murphy rushed for 36 yards on eight carries and Jones completed 5-of-11 passes for 54 yards and a touchdown.
Ja’Marion Lewis completed his only pass of the night for 28 yards. Pete Ruiz had two receptions for 40 yards and Jeremiel Taylor had two receptions for 34 yards.
The Tigers (1-3 and 0-1 District 6-5A DII) don’t get any breaks. They play Crandall Friday night for Homecoming. Crandall is 3-1 and coming off a 48-7 win over Mesquite Poteet in the district opener. The surprise of the week in the district came from Kaufman, which hammered Ennis 55-28 in the district opener. Ennis was ranked No. 24 in the state’s preseason poll. Midlothian Heritage, which was ranked No. 17 in the 5A DII state preseason poll, ripped Greenville 75-11 in the district opener.
