Greg Ward’s Six Touchdowns Help John Tyler Roll Past Corsicana, 63-14

CORSICANA -- For a quarter Friday night, the Corsicana Tigers stayed with the No. 3-ranked John Tyler Lions.

The rest of Friday night’s District 16-4A opener was another story.

John Tyler scored 35 second-quarter points, showing why the Lions are the district favorites and one of the top teams in Class 4A after a 63-14 rout of Corsicana at Tiger Stadium.

Lions quarterback Greg Ward threw five touchdown passes, four of them in the second quarter. Fred Ross, Ward’s favorite target, scored two of the TDs, including a 47-yard scoring reception to snap a 14-14 tie early in the second quarter.

Ward also added a 35-yard touchdown and finished with 71 yards on seven carries.

The Tigers (1-5, 0-1) electrified their fans with an 84-yard touchdown pass from Zach Rash to Bobby Wallace with 19 seconds to go in the first quarter to briefly put Corsicana in the football game. Wallace’s two-point conversion tied the game at 14-14, exactly where the Tigers wanted to be.

Then came the John Tyler onslaught. The Lions (5-1, 1-0) played up to their overwhelming talent, scoring 35 unanswered points in the second quarter. They used all of their offensive weapons to put the Tigers away.

It started with Ross’ 47-yard touchdown pass from Ward for a 21-14 lead 36 seconds after the Tigers had tied the game. Ross and Ward are John Tyler’s college connection – Ross has committed to Oklahoma State and Ward to Houston.

The Lions kept up the pressure on their next possession, as Ward threw his second of six touchdown passes, a 24-yard strike to Justice Liggins, who got behind Tiger freshman cornerback Tray Owens.

The Tigers fumbled on their next possession, and John Tyler scored again, this time as Darion Flowers caught a 15-yard touchdown pass for a 35-14 lead with 6:24 left in the first half. The Lions scored two more times in the half as DeQuante Woods scored on a 10-yard run and Liggins on a 39-yard touchdown reception for a 49-14 halftime lead.

Woods scored on a 8-yard touchdown run in the third quarter and Ward finished off the scoring with a 24-yard touchdown pass to Ross in the fourth quarter.

The Tigers had drives of 14 and 11 plays in the second half, but couldn’t finish off either possession with points. They did finish with 188 rushing yards as the Tigers kept working on their running game with Nacogdoches next up on the district schedule.

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No. 3 John Tyler 63, Corsicana 14
At Tiger Stadium, Corsicana
John Tyler    14   35   7   7 – 63
Corsicana      6     8   0   0 – 14
First Quarter
COR–Jacob Grayson 43 pass from Jacob Grayson (run failed), 10:14.
JT–Greg Ward 35 run (Porfino Benitez kick), 9:03.
JT–DeQuante Woods 2 run (Benitez kick), 1:45.
COR–Bobby Wallace 84 pass from Zach Rash (Wallace run), :19.
Second Quarter
JT–Ross 47 pass from Ward (Benitez kick), 11:43.
JT–Justice Liggins 24 pass Ward (Benitez kick), 8:53.
JT–Flowers 15 pass from Ward (Benitez kick), 6:24.
JT–Woods 10 run (Benitez kick), 5:11.
JT–Liggins 39 pass from Ward (Benitez kick), 1:52.
Third Quarter
JT–Woods 8 run (Benitez kick), 8:53.
Fourth Quarter
JT–Ross 24 pass from Ward (Benitez kick), 10:33.

                                    JT                  COR
First Downs                   20                      22
Rushes-Yards          25-244               43-188
Passing Yards              377                    131
Comp.-Att.-Int.       24-27-0                 5-9-0
Punts-Avg.                   0-0                   5-31
Fumbles-Lost                0-0                    2-1
Penalties-Yards            8-80                  8-57

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—John Tyler, Rodrick Smith 5-78, Greg Ward 7-71, DeQuante Woods 9-55, Jeremy Wilson 2-15, Reggie Gipson 2-3, Tyus Bowser 1-3. Corsicana, Ronnie Devereaux 17-93, Donovan Fields 17-66, Tygarius Sheffield 6-17, Bobby Wallace 2-9, Jacob Grayson 1-3.
PASSING—John Tyler, Ward 24-27-0-377. Corsicana, Rash 5-8-0-129, Wallace 0-1-0-0.
RECEIVING—John Tyler, Fred Ross 7-145, Woods 7-27, Justice Liggins 6-86, Darion Flowers 3-48, Reggie Gipson 2-20, Jeremy Wilson 1-12, Bowser 1-3. Corsicana, Wallace 2-84, Grayson 2-45, Devereaux 1-2.