By: Adam Freeman
On Saturday afternoon with the temps well below freezing in Parsons, the Tucker County Mt. Lion football team took on the Pendleton County Wildcats for the second time this season. The Mt. Lions would get the ball first and mount a long drive capped off with an 11-yard pass and catch for a touchdown from Sam Marks to Garrett Wilfong. Jared Reall would add the two-point conversion and Tucker was on top 8-0 right out of the gates. The Tucker defense would force a punt, and its offense would get back to work as Reall would punch in a score from 10 yards out. Reall would also add the two-point play to push the score to 16-0. Pendleton would continue to struggle with the Mt. Lions defense and would be forced to give the ball back to Tucker. Tucker would go to work to start the second quarter and Reall would find the end zone a second time, this one from 25 yards out. The two-point play was completed on a pass from Marks to Wilfong making the score 24-0. Tucker would again find pay dirt one more time before the half as Marks dove in from 3 yards out. Marks would find Wilfong for the conversion and the score was 32-0 going into the half. Tucker would get a pair of scores from senior Garrett Wilfong in the third quarter. The first being a 26-yard screen pass from Marks and the second off a 55-yard punt return for a touchdown. At the end of the third, Tucker was up 44-0 over the Wildcats. Pendleton would continue its absence from the end zone and the Lions would again find the goal line in the fourth quarter on a plunge into the end zone from 6 yards out by Braxton George. That would prove to be the final score in the contest at 50-0 in favor of the home standing Mt. Lions. Tuckers stellar defense held Pendleton to only 84 yards of total offense and only yielded four first downs in the game, led by seniors Jared Reall and Marky Phillips in tackles. Sophomore defensive back, Cayden Arnold contributed with multiple pass break ups in the efforts. Tucker was led through the air by Sam Marks who was 13 of 15 for 168 yards and 2 touchdowns with one more on the ground, Jared Reall had his typical night of 28 carries 187 yards and 2 touchdowns, and Garrett Wilfong notched 8 catches for 146 yards and 2 touchdowns along with a punt return for a touchdown. Tucker will host the high-powered offense of the Wahama White Falcons this week in the semifinals for a chance to move on to play in the State Championship. Many people believe these to be the top two teams in the state for Single A this season and they will meet at R.H. Armstrong Memorial Field Class of 1984 Stadium this Saturday, December 7, 2024, with kickoff set for 4:00pm.