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First Half
This week’s matchup took place between the Maclay Marauders and the Chipley Tigers The sunset-draped, post-rain game began with what would be many touchbacks for Maclay kicker Drew Lamendola. Chipley’s first drive began with a couple of passes toward the sidelines from quarterback Luke Collins, resulting in a few first downs, but ultimately the drive fizzled out. Maclay’s first drive was very quick and ended in a quick three-and-out. The field was completely flipped though when Marauders quarterback & punter Beau Beshears’ punt bounced for a hefty 61 yards.
The Tigers got the ball back and Collins for the second time converted on a long third down with a 12-yard pass to wideout Blake Godwin. This next set of downs had a shorter third down, and Chipley attempted a run on third and Maclay’s defense – with linebackers Blake Brannen and Tucker Poppell recording the tackle for loss to end the drive.
Maclay this time around marched straight down their opponent’s side of the field and Beshears found wide receiver Henry Richardson on an absolute rope of a pass right at the first-quarter horn to put the Marauders up 7-0.
After a few wildcat run plays from Blake Godwin got Chipley to a 3rd & 1 situation, the Tigers decided to go with a QB sneak. Initially on the play, the Marauders stuffed it, but Luke Collins somehow stayed on his feet and escaped the pile and rocketed for 44 yards to completely flip the field in the Tigers’ favor. After a couple more Godwin runs, Chipley was within the ten yard line. On 2nd & Goal, they fumbled and Maclay was quick to pounce on it, ending what would be Chipley’s longest drive of the game.
Maclay once again showed excellence in both the passing and rushing game on its next drive. The first play of the drive was a 15-yards connection from Beau Beshears to receiver Zae Ritters, and the second was an 11-yard run from running back Anthony White. On the third, Chipley got pressure in on the quarterback. However, he was able to escape the pocket, run right – and right before he was going to cross the line of scrimmage, delivered a dot downfield to Tucker Poppell for a 68-yard haymaker touchdown.
The Marauders didn’t let up on Chipley’s next drive. After the Tigers found themselves in a desperate 3rd & 23 situation, Maclay defensive back Jace Wright read the long pass, intercepted the ball and took it back 65 yards to the house to quickly add to the score total to bring it to 21-0 halfway through the second quarter.
Both teams would then go on to exchange short drives with one another before Chipley got a bit past the 50-yard line and started taking end zone shots due to a lack of much time and no timeouts remaining. Maclay also tried the same thing once the three long passes for Chipley failed, however, the Marauders play resulted in a 12-yard sack that brought the game into halftime.
Second Half
After Maclay’s beginning drive stalled out within a few plays, Chipley got the chance to have the ball back to respond and flip the game. After one first down, the drive went awry and ended with a fake punt run that got stopped a whole 6 yards before the line of scrimmage.
The Marauders’ following drive was killed by a sack and the Tigers’ following drive ended with another Tucker Poppell and Blake Brannen TFL. When Maclay got the ball back, they displayed their explosive play abilities with their longest run of the day coming on the first play with an Anthony White 32-yard bulldoze. This was immediately followed up by another major gain for Anthony White that came in the form of a 22-yards run that ended up putting the Marauders on the 2-yard line. White was in position for another carry into the end zone, but a high snap caused Beshears to have to think on his feet. He rushed left, got absolutely popped from two different players but scored nonetheless for Maclay’s fourth TD of the night.
Chipley’s next drive was thwarted by back-to-back pass deflections from corners Ford Brown and Zae Ritter and the combination of a high snap, a holding call and a sack wiped any chance at Maclay’s next drive working out off the board. Chipley would once again then go three-and-out to give the ball right back to the Marauders.
With the majority of the fourth quarter clock still on the board, Maclay pieced together a dominant drive that also consumed a majority of the clock remaining in the game. The drive was dominated by runs by Anthony White, and was also saved by White when he converted on a 4th & 9 to save the drive. And his reward for that came in the form of getting his first touchdown of the game from 3 yards out to give the game its final score of 35-0.
Players of the Game
Chipley High School Tigers
LB Carter Holley – 10 TKL, 2 TFL, 1 SACK, 6.5 TYDS, 3.5 SYDS
DE Samuel Aase – 10 TKL, 3 TFL, 3 SACK, 15.0 TYDS, 15.0 SYDS
WR/DB Blake Godwin – 8 RUSH, 33 YDS; 2 REC, 18 YDS; 1 TKL; 1 KR, 28 YDS
Maclay High School Marauders
QB/P Beau Beshears 9/15 156 YDS, 2 TDS; 1 RUSH, 2 YDS, 1 TD; 5 PUNT, 208 YDS, 41.6 PAVG
RB Anthony White – 16 RUSH, 123 YDS, 1 TD
WR/LB Tucker Poppell – 2 REC, 84 YDS, 1 TD, 11 TKL, 3 TFL, 3.5 TYDS; 1 KR, 24 YDS
