DECATUR, Tenn. – A high fourth-down snap and an interception proved to be the difference.
In a game between evenly matched opponents, Meigs County took sole possession of second place in Region 3-2A Friday with a 19-9 victory over Boyd-Buchanan. Meigs improved to 6-1 and 3-1 in 3-2A, giving the Tigers their best start since 2006 when they won their last region championship.
The Tigers did it with a game-opening 76-yard scoring drive and capitalization on that high snap and the interception by quarterback and part-time defensive back Aaron Swafford, scoring all the points they’d need in the first 22 minutes.
“They played well – took advantage of the mistakes we made – and they’re a good team with a lead. Then they played really smart with the lead,” Buccaneers coach Carter Cardwell said of the host Tigers. “We put ourselves in a hole, but they did a good job taking advantage of those things. Credit goes to them.”
With a 19-point advantage, Meigs pretty much went conservative in the second half, opening up only in crucial situations after the Bucs closed the gap. But just as Meigs capitalized on some Boyd-Buchanan mistakes, so too did the Bucs capitalize on a Tigers miscue, getting a fumble deep in Meigs territory and cutting the Tigers’ lead to 10 with 32 seconds left in the third quarter.