Tigers hold off Pirates in Black and Gold Classic

Sports Editor

It truly was a rivalry renewed as two teams just down the road from one another met on the football field for the first time in almost three decades.

In the end, it was a back and forth affair between two teams looking to make returns to the playoffs. Most in attendance agreed the game was fun to watch.

Not pretty, but fun. In a game where both teams combined for eight lost fumbles and 10 fumbles overall, Pittsburg coach Triston Abron summed up the thoughts of every coach on the field when the two teams met in the post game.

“Outstanding game, but as far as execution, that was horrible football,” he said, with Mount Pleasant coach Joe Cluley nodding in agreement behind him. “Both teams have too much talent for that.”

“We made too many mistakes out there – we as in both teams,” Coach Cluley said. “We’re going to get it fixed and I already know Coach Abron and his staff are going to get it fixed on their end.”

Despite the mistakes, the “Black and Gold Classic” came down to the wire with both teams going on scoring runs and both teams finding spots in their games that needed work.

In the end, Mount Pleasant claimed round one in front of a packed house – in a game that even saw a stoppage of play for a grounded bat – at Sam Parker Field, with the Tigers winning 22-16. The win was big for Coach Cluley, as it was his first victory at the helm in Mount Pleasant.

“It was not pretty, but it was a lot of fun,” he said. “I don’t know if someone rubbed something on all the balls in the stadium. They couldn’t hold on to it, we couldn’t hold on to it. There were some first game jitters but I thought our kids played hard and their kids played hard. We just have to clean up our mistakes.”

The fireworks started early. Pittsburg received the ball to start the game but just a few plays in, the Tiger defense forced a fumble, giving them great field position. Mount Pleasant didn’t need long to break the scoreless tie as Mason McMinn connected with Dylan Bennett for 19 yards on the second play after the fumble recovery. On the next play, McMinn found Owen Green in the back corner of the end zone for the first score of the night. McMinn connected with Kyler Smith for the two-point conversion to make it 8-0.

The Pirates answered on the ensuing drive behind the legs of their running backs – Cameron Honeycutt, Jaylen Holloway and Twan Thompson Jr. The trio led Pittsburg down the field, ending the drive with a touchdown run by Holloway and a two-point conversion pass from Alexis Reyes to Christian Layton. The two teams ended the first quarter tied at 8-8.

Mount Pleasant picked up the action in the second quarter when Braylon Jones scored on a 22-yard run to make it 14-8, then, after a fumble recovery by Baron Stephens, the Tigers struck again when McMinn found Kelcey Morris from four yards out. McMinn added the conversion to make it 22-8 going into the half.

Both defenses carried the game in the third quarter. Pittsburg started early in the half with a sack by Levi Lain. Later in the quarter, Smith recovered a Pittsburg fumble to give Mount Pleasant a chance to take control of the game. However, kicker Gerardo Chavez – a freshman playing his first football game – just missed on a field goal that hit the upright.

Chavez had a shining moment in the first quarter, however, when he recovered a bad snap on a punt attempt, shrugged off the defense and unleashed a booming punt to pin Pittsburg deep in their own territory. Coach Cluley was impressed with the poise from his freshman kicker playing his first ever game.

“He never came off the field and hung his head,” Coach Cluley said. “That kid has never played football before and he’s out here because he wants to be here. He saved us as punter. He hit some booming punts. That snap went over his head, he went back, picked it up and kicked a 50-yarder when they could have had the ball inside our 20. He was a game changer. Being his first game, he had a few jitters, especially with him kicking in front of a packed house for his first-ever game, but he’ll bounce back. He’s going to be a good one.”

Later in the third, Hudson Hampton recovered another Pittsburg fumble, but a missed snap pushed the Tigers back. In the midst of the quarter, McMinn went down with an injury, putting Luke Hampton in at quarterback for Mount Pleasant.

Early in the fourth, with their backs against the wall again, the Pirate defense came up huge when Thompson recovered a fumble at the three and returned it to the Pirate 23. After a pass interference penalty against the Tigers, Honeycutt broke a long run but came up injured after getting to the Mount Pleasant one. Holloway plunged in for his second score, then Thompson added the two-point conversion to make it 22-16.

WIth two minutes left in the game, the Pirates caused a fumble and recovered it with three minutes left looking to tie the game. However a huge defensive stand from the Tigers allowed Mount Pleasant to kneel the game out and escape with the win.

For Mount Pleasant, Jones rushed for 146 yards and a touchdown. Before his injury, McMinn threw for 75 yards and two scores and rushed for 37 yards. Luke Hampton went 3-4 for 28 yards. Zay Barksdale rushed for 30 yards. Bennett had 51 yards receiving and Morris had 28 yards receiving and a touchdown.

“Mason got a little banged up and we wanted to be careful with him,” Coach Cluley said. “I think he’ll be fine and we have confidence in Luke. If something were to happen to Mason, Luke can step up and can lean on real game experience.

“I thought our offensive line was as good as I’ve seen an offensive line. We gave up some big plays where they scored but we came up with stops in between those moments. Braylon and Zay are such big, powerful runners that we were able to eat the clock up and to be able to lean on runners like that and our offensive line was impressive.”

Ricky Sampson had six tackles and Isaiah Hunter finished with four stops. Hunter, Smith, Stephens and Hudson Hampton all ended up with fumble recoveries.

For Pittsburg, Honeycutt rushed for 138 yards. Thompson added 37 yards and Holloway finished with 32 yards on the ground.

Marcus Moton led the Pirates with 14 tackles and Michael Rockwell added 13 stops. Thompson and Kadias Henderson both had six stops. Moton, Henderson, Jeremiah Lemelle and Robert Miles all had tackles for loss.

After the fireworks on the field, the classic became more of a family reunion with members of both teams and their coaches complimenting each other and coming together for a prayer after the game.

“There’s no question that, even with all the mistakes, both teams went out, competed and got better,” Coach Cluley said. “It wasn’t pretty, but it was a lot of fun. We played hard and they played hard and that’ll help us in the long run. Pittsburg has a great head coach and a great coaching staff. Their offense is so unique and will give you a lot of problems. They are a super physical team.”

“It was a fun game – we wished it would have been a little different on the scoreboard – but our kids definitely grew up during this game,” Coach Abron said. “Mount Pleasant has a lot of players who haven’t played football in a while and Coach Cluley is doing a great job of getting them to buy into the system.”

The energy of Friday’s game already has both teams looking forward to next season’s clash.

“We’re going to get better and Coach Abron and his squad are going to get better,” Coach Cluley said. “We’ll do it again next year at their place.”

Before next year, there’s still much to do this season. The Tigers will hit the road for the first time this season as they renew another rivalry, taking on Sulphur Springs.

The Wildcats defeated Jacksonville in their season opener, 21-6.

Wildcat quarterback Brady Driver is a dual-threat, going 12-20 for 125 yards and a touchdown and rushing for 85 yards. Running back Malachi Roland rushed for 107 yards and two scores. Cooper Faircloth had four catches for 50 yards and Jaxson Haire had two catches for 34 yards and a touchdown.

Coach Cluley expects a battle from the Wildcats, regardless of their classification.

“We obviously need to fix the turnovers,” Coach Cluley said. “Sulphur is a great team, they’re always athletic and they have a new coaching staff that is bringing the juice and getting some players out there. We’re excited to work on our game and get out there in a hostile environment.”

Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Gerald Prim Stadium.