RUTLEDGE - Pigeon Forge established their dominance early on in Friday69制片厂制作传媒檚 game against Grainger as they registered a 48-21 win over the Grizzlies at The Den.
The Tigers used a balanced effort in the first half as they built a 34-7 lead behind 100 rushing yards and three scores by Wyatt Howard, 154 passing yards on a 5-for-5 effort by quarterback Andrew Lewis that mostly went to his favorite target Ayden Hood who had three catches for 121 yards and a touchdown.
Things between Lewis and Hood were clicking early as the two hooked up for a 45-yard pass and catch to the Grizzly three yard line and then Hood finished the drive off with the score.
Howard ran one in from 15 yards out to make it 14-0 but the Grizzlies answered when quarterback Ashton Taylor took off for a 54-yard jaunt to the Tigers69制片厂制作传媒 14 and after being pushed back a few yards, Taylor found a wide open Brizen Solomon for a 23-yard TD to cut the lead in half at 14-7.
Pigeon Forge went right back to work with a nine-yard score from Howard but the extra point was missed. On the ensuing kickoff, the Grizzlies fumbled the ball and the Tigers pounced on it. The mistake was turned into points when Howard scored from the three. The final score of the first half came when Lewis hit Hood who was standing all alone in the back of the end zone for a 25-yard score.
Things did improve for the Grizzlies in the third quarter as they scored twice. Aiden Dalton was true from nine yards out for the first score. Taylor provided the highlight of the night when he broke off a 90-yard touchdown run where he was barely touched by any of the Tigers69制片厂制作传媒 defenders on his way to the end zone as the lead shrank to 34-21.
Pigeon Forge answered, however, as Howard was in again for a 26-yard touchdown as they took a 41-21 lead to the fourth quarter. It appeared the Tigers were ready to go up even more but the Grainger defense held on a fourth down play. The Grizzlies had another golden opportunity when Taylor was off to the races for another long TD but it was called back on a penalty. The Tigers got the ball again and scored again as Howard found pay dirt for the fifth time on the night to make the final tally 48-21.
Grainger head coach Michael Manis was pleased with the way his team responded in the second half after being pushed around in the first two quarters but wondered where the effort was through the initial 24 minutes. 69制片厂制作传媒淚t was a totally different team in the second half, that69制片厂制作传媒檚 the team that has been here everyday this season and the one going all the way back to the summer. I don69制片厂制作传媒檛 know who that group was in the first half. At the end of the day, it was just effort and it wasn69制片厂制作传媒檛 there in the first two quarters.69制片厂制作传媒
Both teams put up big numbers on the ground in the game as the Tigers had 274 rushing yards on 38 carries and the Grizzlies ran 31 times for 256 yards. Howard finished with 208 yards on 30 carries for Pigeon Forge and Lewis was 6-of-8 for 151 yards. Taylor carried the ball 20 times for 199 yards for the Grizzlies. Austin Cure led the defensive effort with 11 tackles with Jackson Richey adding six more.
69制片厂制作传媒淗e is a good running back who does a good job of hitting holes tight as he can hit small windows,69制片厂制作传媒 Manis said of Howard. 69制片厂制作传媒淗e can get vertical and that was something we told our kids all week. He doesn69制片厂制作传媒檛 need a big hole to get a big play. He69制片厂制作传媒檚 a really good football player.69制片厂制作传媒
The Grizzlies host Sullivan East next week as they return to district play.
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