Tyner's Tyjan Pulliam leaps for an interception during Friday night's homecoming game against Bledsoe County. The Rams won 42-9 and secured the Region 3-2A title in the process.Winning region championships has never gotten old for Tyner football coach Wayne Turner in the 27 years he has led the proud program. That doesn't mean the region titles themselves haven't gotten old.
Heading into this season, the Rams' most recent league crown had collected seven years' worth of cobwebs in the longest stretch between league championships during Turner's reign. Tyner's 42-9 victory over visiting Bledsoe County on Friday night, however, gave a whole new meaning to the word homecoming as it brought home the Region 3-2A crown, Tyner's first since 2010.
"It feels good," Turner said after the game. "It was something we felt confident we could do this year, and the players have overcome a lot of obstacles to get it back home. I'm proud for them."
It is Tyner's 14th region title under Turner and the Rams also have three other shared titles in Turner's run, but seven years is a long time to wait nonetheless. Tyner (5-2, 3-0) has one region game left, against Tellico Plains on Oct. 13, but Friday's win assures the Rams of all the tiebreakers.
They put Bledsoe (2-4, 0-2) away early, scoring three touchdowns in less time than it took to announce the homecoming court at halftime.
Tyner covered 80 yards in three plays on its opening drive, with Jeremiah Batiste scoring on a 25-yard pass from Jaylen Bowens. The first of four passes picked off by Tyner in the game put the Rams in business again, and Jeremy Elston scored the first of his three touchdowns in the game with a 23-yard scamper. Then a three-and-out by Bledsoe set up Rah'le High's 21-yard run, and just 16 plays and 6:32 into the game, it was 21-0.
"We came out and jumped on them, and then we got lackadaisical. We just lost focus, and trust me when I say we will use it as a teaching moment this week in practice," Turner said. "They just have to see the big picture down the road, and you can't do that with the letdown we had tonight."
The Warriors held Tyner without a first down in the second quarter and stopped them inside the 10 on downs and forced two turnovers inside the 20. Bledsoe's legatron kicker Gabe Boring nailed a 38-yard field goal to get the Warriors on the board and launched the first of three first-half punts that covered 56, 54, and 53 yards.
Unfortunately for Bledsoe, the last punt was returned 56 yards by Elston to make it 28-3 at the break.
Tyner held Bledsoe to 73 yards on 35 carries while rolling up 342 yards, including 315 on the ground. The Rams only attempted one pass in the second half, and seven players got at least one carry.
High wound up with 130 yards on just seven carries before a high ankle sprain ended his night. Tyon Young added 72 yards on 16 carries, including a 1-yard scoring run in the third quarter.
The Rams had seven sacks, but Warriors quarterback Hayden Woody was gutsy and wound up hooking up with Michael Daniel on a 20-yard pass on fourth down for Bledsoe's lone TD.
Mikaylon Howard intercepted two Bledsoe passes and Ke'un Webb and Willard Duckett got one each. Tyjan Pulliam also returned an interception for a touchdown, but it was nullified by a penalty.
Contact James Beach at sports@timesfreepress.com.