DECATUR, Tenn. — All season long, the Meigs County football team’s defense has stepped up to deliver big plays.
With the TSSAA Region 3-3A championship on the line, the Tigers bowed up again, especially up front, in Thursday’s 13-6 home victory over Tyner to complete the seventh 10-0 regular season in program history.
The defensive line trio of senior Logan Purgason and juniors River Hickman and Landon Ricker stepped up to force three straight Tyner turnovers on downs and help seal the fifth and final region win of the season for the Tigers. Meigs County did not allow another score after a 14-yard touchdown run by Rams senior quarterback Jamarie Ballard with 6:54 left in the first quarter.
“Our defensive line is a group that never gets any credit, and they deserve all the credit in the world,” Meigs County coach Tommy Bunch Jr. said of the group that has helped hold five opponents to six or fewer points this season. “Landon, River and Logan played their guts out in the trenches tonight. They have arms, hands and everything beat up and bruised. They just go to fight every day and don’t expect any credit for it. But we wouldn’t be where we are without them.”
Senior quarterback Ethan Meadows provided all the points the hosts needed in the second quarter.
The dual-threat star ran in for a 6-yard touchdown with 9:51 left, and Meadows extended the lead before halftime when he rolled out to his left for an 8-yard touchdown strike to sophomore Tuff Ricker. Meadows set up the second score with a 21-yard scramble, running from sideline to sideline.
On third-and-18 with less than three minutes left in the game, Meadows threw down the right sideline for a 52-yard pass to Ricker, his go-to target. Junior fullback Bryson Hiefnar soon after began the celebration with his 23-yard run to allow the Tigers to kneel down the rest of the way.
With the playoffs kicking off next week, the Tigers — ranked No. 3 in Class 3A — hope to be celebrating even more later in the fall.
“This region championship means a whole lot to all of us,” Meadows said. “Before the season we had a lot of people think we weren’t even going to have a winning season. So to come out and prove every single one of them wrong and go 10-0, that’s huge. But all that matters is in about five weeks from now. We want to be playing for a state title.”
Tyner (4-6, 3-2) forced a pair of turnovers on defense, which included a fumble recovery by Landis Ratliff on the game’s opening drive that was turned into points.
The Rams moved the ball well in the second half behind solid play from Ballard, but they turned the ball over on downs in critical moments at the Tigers’ 11- and 14-yard lines.
“Tyner is a really good football team,” Bunch said. “They play really physical and are big and strong. Our defense did what they have done all season, though: stop people from scoring. They did whatever it took to get that momentum back. Heck of a defensive performance.”
Contact Patrick MacCoon at pmaccoon@timesfreepress.com.