Patriots overcome penalties and Tigers for second round win
LINDEN — The Linden Patriots saw four touchdowns erased from the board due to penalties, but were still able to convincingly defeat the Elba Tigers to notch a win in the second round of the AHSAA playoffs. With the assistance of the defense keeping the visiting Tigers off the scoreboard, the final score of 28-0 was a little more visually convincing than the game actually felt.
The Tigers received the opening kick and promptly gave up 19 yards on their first possession of the night. After the Elba punt, Doug Johnson was the first Patriot to find the end zone. Johnson’s 4-yard scamper with 7:32 to go in the first quarter gave the Patriots the only points they would need to get the victory. A successful PAT gave Linden a 7-0 lead over the Tigers.
On their ensuing possession, the Tigers would score on a 61-yard run. However, the celebration was short-lived, as an illegal shift penalty wiped the score from the board. Neither team could locate the end zone in the first quarter, which ended with the Patriots still leading 7-0.
However, Linden would tack on another score with 11:41 to go in the second quarter. It came in the form of a 25-yard pass from Graderius Brown to Kevin Green. The successful PAT pushed the Patriot lead to 14-0 over the visiting Tigers.
After an Elba punt, Brown found Green again, this time for a 74-yard touchdown pass. But, to the dismay of the Patriots, the score was again washed off the board due to a lineman downfield penalty. The drive stalled and neither team could get any traction for the remainder of the second quarter. The half ended with the Patriots holding a 14-0 lead.
The Tigers would kick to the Patriots to open the second half of play. The Elba defense stuffed the Linden possession and forced a punt. On the subsequent Tiger possession, Jason Presswood recovered a Tiger fumble. The Patriots would seemingly cash in with another long touchdown pass, but the yellow rags would again say “Nay!” as another lineman downfield penalty would wipe the score from the board. The Patriots would finish the drive with a punt.
With the third quarter winding down, the Patriots were finally able to keep their score-per-quarter string intact with a 2-yard Brown touchdown run with 23 seconds on the clock. The PAT was blocked, giving the Patriots a 20-0 lead.
With a little over nine minutes to go in the fourth quarter, the Patriots would suffer their third penalty-negated touchdown of the night on a holding call at the 5-yard line. However, Brown trotted untouched around left end and into the end zone on the ensuing play. Johnson punched in the 2-point conversion and the Patriots claimed a 28-0 lead.
The Patriots would force a Tiger punt and seemingly add one last score on the night via another touchdown pass. But, yes, you guessed it, one last lineman downfield penalty erased that score as well. The Patriots would then just run out the clock to claim the 28-0 victory.
Linden (11-0) will look to keep its record unblemished next week when it takes on the St. Luke’s Episcopal Wildcats (11-1) in the quarterfinals round of postseason play.
