By Michael Butler

It was the third straight game that came down to the finish. This time it was in Tallassee’s favor. Trent Morris’ 19-yard run with 39 seconds remaining gave the Tigers a 23-16 homecoming win over Cleburne County.

Tallassee improved to 3-3 and 2-2 in Class 4A/Region 3 keeping their playoff hopes alive. Cleburne County fell to 2-4 and 1-3.

Morris, making his return at quarterback after a pre-season injury, had played sparingly on defense for the first half of the season. The junior was responsible for all of Tallassee’s touchdowns on Friday with two running scores (1, 29) and a 24-yard passing touchdown to Jaiden Gordon.

“No. 7 showed up and gave us a spark,” head coach L.A. O’Neal said of Morris. “The team got behind him, and we closed one out.”

Morris was 18-of-24 through the air for 186 yards with a touchdown and no interceptions. He ran for 78 yards on 13 carries with two more TDs, including that game winner.

“I hope we don’t have people watching us with weak hearts,” O’Neal added, “because that’s three in a row that went down to the last minute. It’s good to come out on the right end.”

Cleburne County took a 16-15 with 2:49 remaining. Morris and company then went to work on an eight-play 80-yard drive.

“We talked about finishing games,” said O’Neal. “We were down, but we go down and finish.”

Tallassee scored all of its points in the second half after trailing 3-0 at intermission. Tiny Green ran for 82 yards on 13 attempts. Gordon had eight receptions for 106 yards. Gordon also had a game-sealing interception on defense. Tra’mel McCoy added another defensive pick.

The near capacity home crowd enjoyed the win and the crowning of Taylor Bush as homecoming queen. The next game up is Senior Night on Friday versus Handley, the Tigers’ final home game of the regular season.

Kickoff will be at 7 p.m. Airtime on WTLS – Score 94.7/Fun 101.1 and Tallassee Times TV on YouTube will be at 6 p.m.

Schedule/Results