No. 3 Tigers tame Warriors

By Andy Krutsinger, Mt. Pleasant News

NEW LONDON ? The first of three football games between Henry County teams took place on Friday night and it was the Tigers who roared early and often. No. 3 New London stayed unbeaten with their third-straight blowout victory, beating WACO 71-12.

The first quarter was an electric one. The two teams combined for 37 points in the opening period.

Keontae Luckett got things started with a 53-yard touchdown run. Roberto Carrillo?s PAT was good and the Tigers led 7-0 early.

The Warriors responded with an even longer touchdown. Nik Coble found Colton Horak on a 58-yard touchdown pass. The two-point try failed, and the Tigers led 7-6.

New London gave the home crowd a taste of what was to come with three straight touchdowns after the WACO score. Luckett found the end zone on a 13-yard run. McSorley dashed nine yards to the end zone, and Luckett went 75-yards for his third score of the game, making it 25-6.

Horak?s second score of the game, a two-yard rushing touchdown, helped the Warriors cut the New London lead to two possessions before the first quarter buzzer rang. After one frenetic quarter, it was 25-12 in favor of the Tigers.

It was all New London from that point forward. The Tigers scored thrice in the second quarter to break the game open. Darius Whaley scored on a nine-yard touchdown pass. Luckett had his fourth score with a 24-yard run, and Gavin Holmes punched in a one-yard touchdown. A two-point coversion on the Holmes score made it 46-12 at halftime.

Jordan Johnson got things started in the third quarter, finding the end zone on an eight-yard touchdown run. Mason Porter had the defensive play of the night with a 45-yard interception return, and New London led 62-12 after three.

In the fourth quarter, Robert Carrillo hit the only field goal of the game, a 26-yarder to stretch the lead to 65-12. Ethan Streeter added six more points with a nine-yard touchdown run to put an exclimation point on the New London victory.

The Tigers did almost all of their damage on the ground. Luckett had a monster game, rushing for 244 yards and four touchdowns to lead the team. McSorley had 99 yards and a score on the ground, and Johnson finished with 55 yards and a touchdown.

McSorley had just 11 yards passing on the day, with Whaley?s nine-yard touchdown grab leading the way for the receivers.

Holmes led the Tigers with six tackles. He also had a fumble recovery, one of six Tiger takeaways on the night.

Porter had a fumble recovery to go with his pick-six. Carter Allen recovered one fumble, and McSorley and Luckett each had an interception.

Coble was 11-29 with one touchdown and three picks for WACO. Horak finished the day with seven catches for 107 yards and a score. Drew Kissell had two catches for 43 yards.

Horak also had 68 yards and a touchdown on the ground to lead the squad. Hunter Donaldson was second on the team with 27 yards rushing. Jalen Collins only ran the ball once, but it went for a 21-yard gain.

New London moved to 3-0 overall and 2-0 in district play. They?ll have a huge game at Lone Tree this week. WACO fell to 2-0 overall and 1-2 in the district, and will head home to face Montezuma.