ARLEY – The Meek Tigers earned a much needed win Friday night over the Gaylesville Trojans, claiming victory in their Homecoming game, 40-8.
Coming off a rocky few weeks, Meek finally put it all together and capitalized on the Trojans’ errors. The Tigers’ talent shined, but was helped along the way as the Trojans handed Meek seven turnovers throughout the game. Four fumbles, two interceptions and a muffed kick return gave Meek plenty of scoring opportunities, and they took full advantage of most of them.
The Tigers were led by senior Dillion Baker who had an amazing night on both sides of the ball. Baker threw a short pass for a quick 8-yard touchdown and punched in a rushing touchdown within minutes of his first score, after a costly fumble by the Trojans in their own red zone. Baker also had two interceptions in the first half to cap off his contributions for the night.
Meek's offense exploded on the Trojans all night. The Tigers were fueled by several big runs and racked up 40 unanswered points, until late in the fourth quarter when Gaylesville finally found the end zone on a 56-yard rush by Trojans senior, Landon Lawson, for their only score of the night.
Junior running back John Mark Abercrombie has been one of the Tigers’ best weapons this season, and while he had an 80-yard kick return for a touchdown, he only snagged about 30 yards for the night from the line of scrimmage. Abercrombie also had at least one sack on the Trojans’ quarterback.
Abercrombie's run was the longest of the night, but not by much. Sophomores Destin Morris and Gabe Jones also both had big runs. Jones rushed for a 73-yard touchdown, and caught the touchdown pass mentioned earlier, thrown by Baker. Morris had a 65-yard touchdown run, a fumble recovery and an additional 50 yards of offense.
Gaylesville sophomore Kaleb Whatley was the Trojans’ primary ball carrier and rushed for over 60 yards. The young running back looked strong despite being mismatched by Meeks’ size, and still managed to gain the Trojans some ground. But the Trojans played too inconsistently and were forced to punt nearly every possession that didn't result in a forced turnover.
Meek needed this win as they had dropped two close heartbreakers recently, one against Lynn and the other their botched comeback last week against Decatur Heritage. If the Tigers can keep their homecoming momentum going, they just might squeeze out a winning season.
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