By Michael Butler

Tallassee closed out the regular season with its third straight win – all on the road and look to be primed for the playoffs. It was a 24-8 victory over Holtville on a chilly Thursday in Deatsville.

Tiny Green scored three touchdowns surpassing the 100-yard mark for the first time in a game this season. Yuren Rodriguez added a 24-yard field goal that hit both uprights but fell over the crossbar.

“We started out pretty good,” said THS head coach L.A. O’Neal, whose team led 10-0 at halftime. “We got sloppy as the game went along.”

The “sloppy” was a couple of turnovers and 154 yards in penalties. Holtville was assessed 147 penalty yards.

“In rival games, we try to do too much instead of playing ball and let the game come to us.”

Jaiden Gordon fumbled the opening kickoff setting up Holtville deep in Tallassee territory. But Gordon made up for it with an interception in the end zone. The Tigers then drove 87 yards for the game’s first points.

Green’s touchdown runs were of 6, 6 and 5 yards. He ran for 119 yards on 18 carries. Trent Morris had 86 yards on nine rushes.

Tallassee’s defense ran its scoreless streak to seven quarters before Holtville (2-8) found the endzone on a one-yard run by Daishaun Zeigler with 2:09 remaining in the game.

The Tigers (6-4) have allowed just 15 points combined during the three-game winning streak.

“With the way offenses have evolved, it’s hard to keep teams from scoring,” O’Neal added. “We want to be peaking at the right time going into the playoffs.”

Tallassee hits the road again this week for the first round of the state playoffs. American Christian (6-4) will be the opponent in Tuscaloosa. The two teams are meeting for the first time.

“They’re well coached. They’ve got athletic guys who are going to be in the right place. In Tuscaloosa, you’re going to have LSU fans up there because Alabama is playing LSU. We treat it as a business trip. We’re not going up there to sightsee. We’re going to play a ball game and have an opportunity to win.”

Schedule/Results