Malakoff Starts 12-0 for the First Time in School History After 49-6 Rout of Kirbyville

[By Joe Elerson, Athens Daily Review]

NACOGDOCHES The No. 3-ranked Malakoff Tigers took care of business in the second half of a 49-6 victory over the Kirbyville Wildcats at Dragon Stadium.

“I am proud of the kids' effort,” Malakoff coach Jamie Driskell said. “We have got to clean some things up. The kids are playing extremely hard and at times we lose our focus. Kirbyville brought it to us early and we responded and executed well.”

Malakoff (12-0) won its second area championship in school history. The Tigers currently hold the best regular season record in school history for one season.

The Tigers are scheduled to face No. 6-ranked Rockdale, with a tentative date set for Friday at Waco ISD.

Malakoff jumped out to the early 7-0 lead as junior quarterback Judd Miller found Q.T. Barker on a 39-yard touchdown pass with 8:46 remaining in the first quarter.

Breashawn Williams then hauled in a 24-yard touchdown reception from Miller with six minutes remaining in the first for the 14-0 lead. Everardo Garcia booted the PAT good.

Senior Tyler Russell then added a long touchdown reception to his night as he hauled in a 63 yard completion with 2:39 remaining in the opening quarter.

Following a reception by Barker, the Kirbyville defense stripped him of the ball and Donavon Norsworthy raced 64 yards for the only touchdown of the game. The extra point was blocked for the 21-6 deficit with four seconds remaining in the first quarter.

“Defensively, we pitched the shutout,” Driskell said. “The only points they had was on the turnover that they returned for the touchdown.”

Driskell said the halftime chat with the team was not very positive, but the Tigers responded in the second half.

“We had a chance to put them away being up 21-0 early. We had the fumble and they returned it for a touchdown. We sputtered and lost our focus. We did not talk nice to them and the kids responded and executed with the game plan that we had.”

After a scoreless second quarter, The Tigers scored the only touchdown of the third quarter on a 61-yard touchdown pass from Miller to Barker. Garcia booted the PAT good with 10:30 remaining in the third quarter.

In the fourth quarter, the Tigers added a 67-yard touchdown pass from Miller to Barker, a 10-yard touchdown run by Deric Davis and the fumble recovery by Adams.

The defense had six snaps with Kirbyville in a goal-to-go situation but could not get into the end zone. Lineman Chase Adams scored the final touchdown with a fumble recovery in the end zone with 1:29 remaining for the 49-6 finale.

“Kirbyville is really fast. I thought the kids rose to the speed and bowed our next and got after it tonight.”

Miller was 14-of-18 passing for 349 yards with five touchdowns. Barker had four catches for 177 yards, while Russell had five receptions for 116 yards. Williams finished the night with 20 carries for 172 yards rushing.