ARLEY – Football season is underway for the Meek Tigers and they started it off with a 35-18 win over the Phillips Bulldogs. It was the first game for Meek under new head coach David Norwood and he brought his style of football to the Tigers featuring a physical defense and a powerful running game.
The workhorse out of the backfield Friday night for Meek was senior running back John Mark Abercrombie, who put 188 yards rushing and had three touchdowns. Abercrombie took over the game when he broke free for a 36-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter to give his Tigers a 29-18 lead and put away the game.
Norwood recognized how much of the load he carried for the Tigers. “John Mark Abercrombie really carried the lion’s share for us tonight, there’s no doubt about that,” Norwood said. “The kids played hard tonight, they really played hard.”
The Bulldogs managed to put up 12 unanswered points in the second quarter, including a 59-yard touchdown pass with 10 seconds remaining in the half, but it was all Tigers once the third quarter kicked off. The Tigers’ defense held Phillips to just 54 yards of offense in the second half, while the Tiger offense ran the ball for 153 yards in the second half to put the Bulldogs away.
Norwood is a defensive coach and was satisfied overall with how his defensive unit performed tonight. “We didn’t do bad. We gave up a couple of passes and on at least one of them we were in position to make a play and I think we lost a drag coming across the middle of the field. When you’re in position you’ve got to go up and make a play.”
The Tigers will try to get off to a 2-0 start next week when they host Hubbertville.
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