By Michael Butler

Tallassee kicked off region play with a 50-40 setback at the hands of Holtville on Friday night at J.E. “Hot” O’Brien Stadium. The 90 points scored by the two teams was the second most ever in a Tallassee game. Only the 1988 playoff loss to B.B. Comer (92), 47-45 in five overtimes, had more.

Tallassee fell behind 14-0 early after turnovers on its first two drives, an interception in the endzone and a fumble on the first snap of the ensuing drive, but the Tigers battled back.

Trent Morris scored on a 24-yard run and hit Hudson Timmerman on a 76-yard scoring pass in the second quarter. Hamp Love’s six-yard run in the final seconds of the first half made it 21-19 Holtville at the break.

It was a scoring fest in the second half. Tallassee took its first lead on a one-yard run by Love. His catch from Morris on the two-point conversion put Tallassee up 27-21. Holtville’s Jadarian Lucas scored on the next offensive play. It was 28-27 entering the fourth quarter.

The two teams see-sawed back and forth with quick touchdowns in the final stanza.

Milaki Griffin gave Tallassee a 33-28 lead with a five-yard run, but the two-point conversion failed. Holtville countered with a 46-yard pass from Gavin Russom to Chance Brock. The two-point play gave the Bulldogs a 36-33 advantage. Hudson Timmerman then returned the kickoff 65 yards for a 39-36 Tallassee lead. Russom went right back to Brock again on a 76-yard bomb making it 40-36.

Tallassee’s next drive in the final minutes stalled when Morris was dropped for a loss on 4th and 1 from the Holtville 28. Lucas’ 56-yard jaunt closed out the scoring.

“This one’s tough,” said THS head coach Eric Folmar. “I’m not sure in 18 years of doing this that I’ve been more embarrassed of myself as a coach. This is 100 percent on me. I thought our kids for the most part played really hard. I think tonight I failed them as a coach and didn’t’ put them in the positions they needed to be in to be successful. It hurts more knowing it’s on my shoulders”

The two teams combined for 994 yards of offense and 43 first downs. Tallassee was balanced with 219 rushing yards and 220 passing yards.

Morris had 316 total yards. Tray Terry ran for a career-best 93 yards on 18 carries. Timmerman had 2 receptions for 84 yards and a TD. Love had three catches for 61 yards. Braylon Rigsby added three grabs for 31 yards.

“I know we’re heading in the right direction. We’ve just got to keep climbing and taking it one day at a time. We’re going to get where we need to be. Hopefully this one doesn’t derail us.”

The Tigers (0-3/0-1) travel to Marbury on Friday. The Bulldogs are 3-0 and 1-0 in Class 4A/Region 4 play. The 3-0 start is the best for the program since 2011.

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

2026 Schedule/Results