When Wayne Turner needed someone to "carry the mail" Friday night for the Tyner football team, he turned to his junior fullback Tyon Young. And Young delivered touchdowns - three to be exact.
Mix in a solid defensive night, and the Region 3-2A champion Rams did enough to take down neighboring foe Central 27-16 in a matchup of teams that will be hosting playoff games next week.
"We were expecting a stiff challenge coming into the playoffs, and we got it because this is probably the best team we've faced since Marion County earlier this season," Coach Turner said. "We needed a wake-up call tonight, and we got one in the second half that let us take care of business."
The Purple Pounders (6-4, 5-1 in 2-4A) started the scoring early in the first quarter with junior running back Michael McGhee scoring his 23rd touchdown of the season with a 36-yard scamper.
From there, Young scored twice for the Rams (8-2, 4-0 in 3-2A) from short distance. His first came after a Central shanked punt was returned, and his second capped off a five-play drive to give the Rams their first lead.
Central's McGhee reached the end zone one more time before halftime, but a 42-yard score by quarterback Jaylen Bowers and Young's third touchdown of the night sealed the Tyner win in the second half.
"We were physically beaten tonight, and that's our fault because we didn't do a good job of coaching our players," Central coach Cortney Braswell said. "We definitely wanted a win to build some momentum going into next week, but when you look at where we were at two years ago to now, we just have to be thankful to have the chance to host a really good football team at our place. We believe losing builds character, and we sure have enough of it by now."
Contact John Mitchell at sports@timesfreepress.com