Tigers open season at home versus Hooks

Photo by TAMMY SIMMONS

Linden-Kildare opened its 2019 football campaign at home last Friday night against a strong Hooks team.

The Hornets jumped out to a 25-0 lead and took a 40-18 decision over the Tigers when the final buzzer sounded.

The game, like many in the area, was delayed because of lightning at one point.

L-K received the ball to begin the game but after a 9-yard sweep gain by Deuce Schuler, the Tigers punted the ball away with just over 10 minutes on the clock. The Tigers’ defense was scrappy against Hooks as they forced the Hornets into a couple of third downs and a fourth down. Unfortunately Hooks converted the fourth down attempt and went on to score later in the drive. The point after was no good but Hooks was up 6-0. L-K later turned the ball over to the Hornets on the two yard line and from there Hooks would punch the ball into the endzone. The PAT was good and Hooks extended its lead to 13-0 with 2:30 left in the first quarter. The Tigers rolled the dice on its next drive as they eventually faced a fourth down. The fourth down conversion ended with an incomplete pass and the Hornets took over from the Tiger 45-yard line. Hooks ran one more play before the first quarter came to a close. The Hornets opened the next quarter with a long touchdown play. Hooks missed on the PAT but the score was 19-0. Another score by the Hornets a play later put Hooks up 25-0 with just under four minutes to play in the first half. Red Tyson intercepted the 2-point pass attempt and returned it to the 40-yard line. The score remained the same as the first half came to a close. L-K got on the board in the third quarter as Mason Johnson hit Tyson on a 25-yard reception for a touchdown. The point after was no good and L-K was down just 25-6. Hooks scored again at the 7:55 mark and converted the 2-point play which pushed the score to 33-6. Successful runs by Schuler on the Tigers’ next drive gave promise, but a penalty and a sack forced the Tigers to punt. The two teams traded possessions for the remainder of the third frame. Early in the fourth quarter Schuler connected with Tyson on a 45-yard touchdown play. The PAT was no good but the Tigers were down just 33-12 with 11:28 left in the game. Another stout exhibition by the L-K defense ended up with Nick Kunze falling on a fumble. That later led to a 4-yard scamper into the endzone by Nate Holloway with 7:44 left in the contest. The PAT was no good but L-K was only down 33-18 with plenty of time to mount a rally. L-K forced the Hornets to punt on its next drive but a turnover by the Tigers gave the ball right back to Hooks. The Hornets scored once more at the 3:12 mark and time ended with the score sitting at 40-18. Schuler ended the game 5-for-9 with 74 yards, a touchdown pass and 14 yards rushing, and Johnson went 5-for-6 with 82 yards and a touchdown pass. Holloway had 21 yards rushing with a score, Tyson added 20 yards on the ground and Dayton Hamilton had 12. Tyson had five catches for 166 yards and two touchdowns, Kunze caught three passes for 27 yards and Tawin Patterson added 13. In all the Tigers had 67 yards rushing and 156 yards passing for a total of 223 yards. Defensively Holloway led the way with five solo tackles as part of 16 total, Vincent Peters added four solo tackles as part of 16 total and Kunze had four solo tackles as part of his nine overall. Gunner Minor was also disruptive on “D” as he garnered seven total tackles, and both Holloway and Tyson had four tackles each for loss yards in the game. The Tigers travel to Clarksville this Friday night, Sept. 6, to take on the other Tigers. Kickoff is slated for 7:30 p.m.