So much for bringing a house-warming gift.
Instead, Meigs County brought a strong showcase on both sides of the football as the Tigers spoiled Hixson’s home opener with a 42-15 win Friday night.
Meigs County (2-0) scored all of its points before the halftime whistle thanks in large part to Aaron Swafford’s three-touchdown performance, along with a swarming Tigers defense corralling four turnovers by Hixson (0-2).
“We wanted to make sure we got everything going early and we were able to put it away by halftime,” Meigs County coach Jason Fitzgerald said. “Coming into the year, I was worried about how young this team was, and I wanted to see how mature we would be this week after winning on the road.
“We came out of the gate like I wanted us to and we did a good job.”
After being intercepted on his first throw of the game, Swafford led the Tiger to five consecutive touchdown drives. Meigs County never looked back after Swafford’s 4-yard touchdown run put it on the board early.
Jawan Martin stretched the first quarter lead to 14 points after his 4-yard touchdown capitalized a 10-play drive and extended the margin to 20 after taking a blocked punt to the house. Hixson struggled to keep the score close after fumbling on three consecutive possessions.
With a short field for most of the quarter, Meigs County took advantage of each opportunity. Swafford found Jon Jon Beeler on a 13-yard touchdown pass to make it 27-0 and all but sealed the win with his 37-yard touchdown run on third-and-long.
“We had a good first drive, and we made a mistake down there,” Swafford said. “The team got behind us, though, and didn’t get mad. We stayed back there and stayed focused, and we did what we had to do.”
Swafford ended the game with 134 rushing yards and 73 passing, all of which came in the first half. Martin Smith added 46 yards and a touchdown on the ground.
With a running clock to open the second half, Hixson had limited time to attempt a comeback. However, the Wildcats scored 15 straight points in the fourth quarter after switching quarterbacks late in the first half.
Landon Wallace replaced starter Jack Jullian and led back-to-back touchdown drives after the defense put up Hixson’s first points of the game with a safety. Jaylen Benn scored late on a 10-yard touchdown run, and Wallace added a 65-yard heave to Latrell Sandefer to end the game and keep the Wildcats from being shut out.
“The first half it seemed like we were struggling in every aspect of the game,” Hixson coach Gary Murray said. “The second half we tightened it up, but it was too late. All we can build on is the positives right now.”