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Big second half pushes Caruthersville by Crystal City
CRYSTAL CITY -- Charles Dickens wrote the classic novel "A Tale of Two Cities," and this week the Caruthersville Tigers produced "A Tale of Two Halves."
After being shut out in the first half, the Tigers rallied to beat Crystal City 34-12.
Caruthersville (3-0) made the 160-mile trip up I-55 to face the previously unbeaten Hornets (2-1), a team the Tigers defeated twice last season, including a 39-6 win in the opening round of the playoffs.
The Tigers' offense stalled most of the first half, including the opening drive of the game. After being forced to punt, the Tigers found the field flipped on them.
The Hornets' offense marched to ball all the way down to the Tigers goal, but the Caruthersville defense held and gave the offense the ball back at their own three-yard line.
With precarious field position, the Tigers coughed the ball up on their second play and the Hornets' Michael Bohnert scooped the ball and scored from two yards out to make it 6-0 with 5:44 left in the opening frame.
The second quarter was much like the first. The Tigers offense, finding itself behind for the first time all season, was unable to make anything happen. The Hornets were able to sustain one good drive and capitalized on it when, with 3:28 left before half, Nic Rothweiler connected with Stacey Thornton for a six-yard TD to make it 12-0.
The Tigers moved the ball 60 plus yards down the field to the Hornets' red zone, only to turn the ball over when Tyler Grissom was intercepted by Thorton.
The Tigers had trouble getting their vaunted ground game untracked in the opening half due to penalties. They also had problems with the snap. Add insult to injury, Caruthersville lost backup center Joey Middleton to a hand injury.
"I don't know if it was the trip, first away game or what, but we came out flat," Caruthersville coach Nathan Morgan said. "That first half wasn't Caruthersville Tigers football."
Shortly before the start of the second half, Tigers' lineman Jay Stricklin rallied the troops with a motivational speech. The team seemed to respond well to the massive 6-4, 320-pounder because the first play of the second half the Tigers were able to force a fumble and recover it deep in Hornets' territory.
The Tigers were able to capitalize on the turnover quickly when Elbie Fonda found paydirt with a seven-yard TD run at the 10:19 mark. Steve Rodgers added the PAT to cut the deficit to 12-7.
It wouldn't take long for the Tigers to take the lead. In less the than two minutes the Tigers forced the Hornets to punt. After a sizeable punt return by Fonda was brought back on a block in the back penalty, the Tigers put Darrell Monroe in the backfield and the super soph quickly paid dividends by breaking loose for an 81-yard TD run at the 8:23 mark. The PAT by Rodgers was good to make it 14-12 and the romp was on for Caruthersville.
On the second play of the fourth quarter Grissom ran in a quarterback keeper from eight yards out to make it 20-12.
The Tigers tacked on two more touchdowns to put the game out of reach, both by Monroe. The big back finished with 277 yards on just 11 carries.
His second touchdown run came from 39 yards with 7:42 left in the game and his third was the best, coming from 97 yards out with 5:59 remaining. Grissom added the two-point conversion for the final margin of victory.
"We were able to make adjustments at the half that worked well for us," Morgan said. "A lot of it was just old school running the ball downhill."
The Tigers' defense was ferocious in the second half, intercepting Crystal City four times, three of those picks coming from Hunter Dickey. The junior also laid some thunderous hits on Crystal City's wideouts and running backs.
The momentum of the game changed on that first play of the second half, which the Tigers forced and recovered a fumble.
"You get a big like one like that, especially out of halftime when they get the ball," Morgan said. "They had all the momentum, but with that turnover the ball switched to our court."
This Friday will mark the third time in recent memory Caruthersville and Hayti will enter the Battle of the Bootheel unbeaten.
Morgan said the game is all about bragging rights.
"These kids are all friends, but at the end of the day they want beat the other team on Friday," he said.