DUBLIN – Surrendering seven touchdowns might not sound like a stellar defensive performance, but the No. 1 May Tigers also forced five turnovers – including two that were returned for touchdowns – which fueled their 84-55 victory over the No. 3 Jonesboro Eagles Thursday night in Class A Division I Region IV semifinal playoff action.
A dozen games into the season, May (12-0) has now created 44 takeaways and scored 14 defensive touchdowns. Through the first nine games of the season, the Tigers had scored at least one defensive touchdown in each contest – and May’s first score while the opponent had the ball shifted the momentum against Jonesboro (11-1).
“The turnovers were the difference in the game,” said May 18th-year head coach Craig Steele. “We had one, they had five, and if you look at the scoreboard that’s the difference in the game, that pretty much says it all. It wasn’t our best defensive game, we didn’t get off blocks as well as we should have and we probably didn’t tackle as well as we should have, but we made plays when we needed to.”
Perhaps never more this season has May needed the defense to step up than when facing an early 8-0 deficit after it first two drives failed to produce points. Jonesboro was in position to seize firm control of the contest midway through the opening period. Instead, the Eagles coughed up the ball on a third-and-11 run play from their own 10, which Kaden Halk scooped and returned 14 yards for a touchdown. Kayden King’s two-point kick tied the score at 8 with 4:53 left in the first, and triggered a run of four straight touchdowns for the Tigers – and an insurmountable lead.
“It was the turning point in the game,” Steele said.
The Tigers yielded 361 yards to Jonesboro – 287 on the ground and 74 through the air – as Caleb Christel led the way with 186 yards on the ground, including a 46-yard touchdown sprint on the Eagles’ first snap of the game. Christel also passed for 45 yards, Ian Shoaf completed a 24-yard pass, and Layton Blanchard caught the lone touchdown reception from 5 yards out. Jacob Cisneros chipped in 51 yards on the ground.
Meanwhile, May finished with 463 yards of total offense behind a balanced attack of 254 rushing yards and 209 passing yards.
Blake Harrell completed 6 of 9 passes for 170 yards and three touchdowns, while rushing for 103 yards to pace the May offense. Kaden Halk chipped in 87 yards on the ground and two scores, Avery Williford rushed for 34 yards and a touchdown, and Damian Salinas added a 29-yard trip to the end zone on his lone carry.
Halk led the receiving corps with two catches for 80 yards and a touchdown, Salinas added two grabs for 46 yards and scored once, Williford and Brian Kunkel contributed touchdown receptions of 41 and 31 yards, respectively, and Luke McKenzie hauled in an 11-yard catch while also hurling a 39-yard scoring toss to Salinas.
“The kids ran hard and for the most past took care of the ball,” Steele said of the offense. “The kids did a good job executing what we needed to execute. We had a lot of stuff in that we didn’t have to use. The kids were able to run pretty much our base stuff and did a great job at it.”
Knotted at 8, the Tiger defense held on Jonesboro’s third drive and May scored on a 4-yard plunge by Williford with seven seconds left in the first quarter to cap a five-play, 30-yard drive and put the Tigers up for good, 16-8.
May followed on its next possession with a 41-yard screen pass from Harrell to Williford, which put the Tigers in the end zone for the third time and pushed the advantage to 24-8 with 6:01 left in the first half.
An interception by Kunkel set up May’s next touchdown, a 29-yard sprint to the end zone by Halk to cap a one-play drive and pad the cushion to 32-8 with 3:26 left before intermission.
Jonesboro responded with a 1-yard dive by Christel to close the gap to 32-16 at the 2:10 mark of the second period, but May answered with a 31-yard scoring strike from Harrell to Kunkel to open a 40-16 with 46 seconds left in the half.
The Eagles attempted to add a late touchdown in the first half, but fumbled away the ball with three seconds left at the May 31, as King pounced on the loose ball.
Jonesboro also gave the ball away on its first possession of the second half, as Harrell recovered a fumble at the Eagle 33 to set up a one-play drive and a 33-yard scoring toss from McKenzie to Salinas, pushing the lead to 48-16.
May’s defense wasn’t able to match its first-half success in terms of denying Jonesboro points, but the Tigers were also without Williford over the final two quarters after he left the game with a shoulder injury with less than a minute to go in the first half.
“He’ll be back, we were just playing it safe with him,” Steele said of Williford. “We didn’t need to push it if we could get it without him. He’s integral to what we do so he’ll be back next week.”
The two teams exchanged touchdowns the rest of the way, with Jonesboro getting no closer to May than 23 points down the stretch.
A 5-yard pass from Cisneros to Blanchard brought Jonesboro within 48-24 with 3:25 left in the third period, then May scored on a 3-yard run by Halk with 9:41 left, establishing a 56-24 lead for the Tigers.
The May touchdown marked the first of nine between the two teams in the fourth quarter.
Cisneros returned a kick 76 yards for a touchdown to bring Jonesboro within 56-31 with 9:16 left. Following a May fumble at the Eagle 13 for its only turnover, Salinas recovered a fumble by Christel in the end zone on the next snap, and May’s lead stood at 62-31 with 9:09 to go.
A 16-yard touchdown run by Cisneros trimmed the deficit to 62-39 with 8:10 remaining, but the Tigers answered with a 43-yard toss from Harrell to Halk to increase the cushion to 70-39 with 5:12 left.
Shoaf scored on a 3-yard carry for Jonesboro at the 4:48 mark, bringing the Eagles within 70-47. Branden Steele then returned an onside kick 46 yards for a May touchdown and a 78-47 lead with 4:40 left.
The final May touchdown was scored with 2:30 on the clock on a 29-yard gallop by Salinas, while Jonesboro followed with the second 46-yard touchdown run by Christel for the final points of the contest.
Next up for May will be either No. 2 Water Valley (11-0) or Lometa (8-2) – who square off at 6:30 p.m. Friday in Eden – in the Class A Division I Region IV championship game next week.
As for what happens while the Tigers play the waiting game, Steele said, “We’re going to work on getting the soreness out tomorrow, we’re pretty beat up. Then we’ll go watch that game and see who we’re playing.”
