BTW Hands THS First Region Loss

By Michael Butler

It was ‘deja vu all over again,’ to quote Yogi Berra. The Tallassee Tigers relived the nightmare of last year’s loss to Booker T. Washington again on Friday night in a 17-14 Class 4A/Region 3 setback.

Last year in Tuskegee, the Eagles scored 19 fourth-quarter points in a 26-21 win. This time at Tallassee’s J.E. “Hot” O’Brien Stadium, they scored 11 in the final frame after trailing 14-0 at the half. The final points came on a 20-yard field goal by Alexander Williams with 18 seconds left.

“We had every opportunity to close the game out and didn’t get the job done,” said Tallassee head football coach L.A. O’Neal.

Tallassee (2-2/1-1) built its early lead with a sensational 24-yard one-handed catch by Cortland Roberts on a pass from John Carter in the first quarter. The second touchdown came in the second quarter on a 2-yard run by Jaiden Gordon, his sixth TD of the season.

That would be all the scoring for the Tigers on the night.

THS cheerleaders (left to right): Chloe Smith, Caitlin Emfinger, Miley Segrest, Taylor Bush, Kira Northcutt. Photo by Kyle Thornton.

BTW (2-1/2-0) won the battle of field position in the second half. Their first points came on a scoop and score with Tallassee backed up deep in its own territory.

On the next touchdown, it looked as though Marquez Daniel was held up on a 4th and goal from the 1, but a late indication by the officials awarded the Eagles the score to cut the Tigers’ lead to two. The first two-point conversion was waived off by a penalty. The second try from the 13 was good on a pass from Jeremiah Kitt to Dylan Purter, although it appeared the play clock had run out.

BTW’s game-winning scoring drive was set up by a fourth-and-four stop on Tallassee’s own 39 with 1:19 left.

O’Neal reflected on last year in looking ahead to the remainder of the season. The 2024 squad still won the region attaining the top seed for the playoffs.

“Although I hate to lose, we were in this same situation last year,” O’Neal added. “We just have to control the things we can control.”

The Tigers go on the road for the first time this season on Friday as they take on unbeaten Bullock County (4-0/2-0) in Union Springs. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. Pregame starts at 6 on WTLS – Score 94.7/Fun 101.1 and Tallassee Times TV on YouTube.