The offense came early and often for the No. 6 Tiger Football as they defeated Southern Athletic Association (SAA) opponent Rhodes College 63-14.
The Tigers improve to 3-1 on the season and remain undefeated in SAA conference play. The 63-point outing for the Tigers is the most points scored by a Tiger team against Rhodes. The Tigers improved their overall record to 24-12 against Rhodes, dating all the way back to their first match-up in 1983.
The opening drive for the Tigers did not start out hot as the Tigers had a quick three and out, but then the offense exploded. The Tiger offense was relentless, putting up 35 points in the first half alone. The first half would be capped off by a strike thrown by quarterback
Tucker Horn (Graham, Texas / Graham) to wide receiver
Ryan Merrifield (Austin, Texas / Vandergrift) on a slant from 2 yards out.
Merrifield had an outstanding day, catching 6 passes for 151 yards and 4 touchdowns. The four-touchdown night for Merrifield ties a school record for most touchdown passes caught in a single game. Sophomore
Collin Bishop (Childress, Texas / Childress) threw the first touchdown pass of his career when he hit
Jordan Jones (Fort Worth, Texas / All Saints Episcopal) for the 8-yard touchdown. Sophomore
Jackson Williams (Manor, Texas / New Tech) led the way for the Tigers on the ground, tallying 67 yards and scoring the first touchdown of his career.
After the first touchdown of the game for the Tigers, it was a snowball effect. The Tigers would score on four of their five drives in the first half. To open up the second half, the Tigers would continue to show why they are a top-10 team in the country. It would only take the Tigers seven plays to score yet again. As the Tigers handed the ball to the workhorse
Legend Grigsby (Houston, Texas / Cypress Creek) on the inside zone, it would only take him one cut to power his way into the end zone to add another touchdown to his season total.
The final Tiger drive of the third quarter would be a long one. The drive would be excellent for the Tigers as they did not see a single third down. The back end of the drive would see a beautiful dime thrown by quarterback
Ryan Back (Austin, Texas / Vandergrift) for 21-yards to
BJ Rainey (Cedar Hill, Texas / Cedar Hill) to set up the Tigers on the Rhodes 1-yard line. As the ball was snapped, the Tigers' "we will run it till you stop it" mentality was on point as they scored on the same inside zone play as before, but this time it would be running back
Johnny Milo (The Woodlands, Texas / Caney Creek) bulldozing his way through multiple Lynx to score the touchdown.
The Lynx would not score until the end of the third quarter when they would find the endzone via the pass from 6 yards out. Then they would score again late in the fourth quarter but the damage had already been done. The Tigers would go on to take the 63-14.
Up Next - A Berry Big Game
After this win, the Tigers will travel to Georgia to play Berry College, which has been receiving votes for a national ranking, on Saturday, September 30th at 1 PM (ET).
