Tigers still searching for first win

By STEVE SNYDER
Lancaster News Editor

The Lancaster Tigers had another valiant effort, but once again seemed to run out of gas in the second half, losing 31-14 to the Greenville Lions.

The Tigers got on the board first with a Dionte Dean touchdown, but Greenville came back to claim a slim 10-6 halftime lead.

The first half started out unevenly for both teams. The Tigers received the opening kickoff and had excellent starting position, as Demarcus Williams had a 64-yard return. However, the Tigers couldn’t do anything with field position inside the Lions’ 35-yard line. They fumbled on the second play from scrimmage.

Greenville, after dodging a bullet, didn’t do anything with the ball either. Instead, they fumbled back to the Tigers on their second play from scrimmage.

This time, the Tigers didn’t waste their opportunity. On their second play, Kenric Gilbert broke the line quickly and found nothing but wide-open spaces up the right side of the field. The 49-yard touchdown, with a failed extra point, put the Tigers up by a 6-0 margin.

Greenville came back with a long drive. They marched the ball 69 yards in 12 plays. The Tiger defense eventually stiffened, though, and kept the Lions out of the end zone. A 22-yard Jared Buck field goal cut the Tiger lead to 6-3.

The Tigers then had a three-and-out drive and had to punt. Greenville managed to pick up one first down, but then had to punt back to the Tigers.

The Tigers then fumbled the ball again on this drive. However, the Lions had to punt the ball back again.

This time, the Tigers were pinned deep in their own territory, at their 4-yard line. But they got their offense together to march into Lion territory, where they were eventually stopped at the 29-yard-line.However, Andrew Bigley’s 46-yard field goal fell short.

Greenville then got their offense in gear and drove back down the field for their first touchdown of the game. Fullback Triston Jackson scored from a yard out with less than a minute left in the first half.

The Tigers made a bid to get back on the scoreboard before halftime. Williams had a 47-yard kickoff return. However, the Tigers were unable to do anything with the good field position before time ran out on the half.

That let the Lions go into the locker room with a 10-6 lead.

In the second half, the Lions started to pull away from the Tigers.

The Lions started the second half at their own 28. They ran three plays and were a yard short of a first down. They decided to go for it on fourth down, and quarterback Jeff Robinson pulled the Tigers offside with a hard snap count. They then appeared to have scored a couple of plays later, but a holding penalty wiped that out. However, wide receiver Surod Anderson then caught a touchdown pass from Robinson and the score was 17-6.

The Tigers got one first down on their next drive but then had to punt.

Greenville responded with another 72-yard drive, with tailback Robert Castillo scoring from 2 yards out. In addition to stretching their lead to 24-6 the long drives kept their defense fresh.

The Tigers got back in the board three minutes into the fourth quarter. They drove 68 yards to the end zone, capped by Dionte Dean’s 1-yard run. A two-point conversion made the score 24-14.

But the Tigers would get no closer. Greenville drove 74 yards in six plays on their next drive, with Jackson scoring from 24 yards out to cap the game.

Kenric Gilbert was a bright spot on offense for the Tigers. He broke the 100-yard mark rushing, appearing to establish himself as the starting halfback.

Coach Andrew Jackson is frustrated about still not being in the “W” column.

“We just need to win,” he said. “We weren’t aggressive at all defensively. Offensively, we still have a few problems.”

Jackson said he would continue alternating A.D. Matthews and Dionte Dean at quarterback this week against Waxahachie, as he did against Greenville.