WS Chronicle

Mount Tabor came into the game against Ben L. Smith without their starting quarterback, sophomore Tryress McIntyre.  Despite the loss of McIntyre, the Spartans pulled out a 20-6 victory last week on Sept 20 in a game that was closer than the score indicates.

The Spartans not only had to deal with the loss of McIntyre, but they also had two of their best players moved up to the varsity team.  Spartan head coach Mike Lovelace only had a few days to prepare Nate Wolford for playing under center.

“We somehow found a way to pull this one out,” said Lovelace.  “We had to take the opportunity to move Nate Wolford to quarterback and he was just outstanding for us, but our defense found a way to make some stops.”

“They [Smith] had two really good backs, but we made some plays when we needed to.  It helped to score on our first two possessions to go up 12-0 and we just hung on in the end.”

Smith had to play catch up with Mount Tabor scoring on their first two drives of the game.  Jalil Williams of Smith got them on the scoreboard when he scampered down the sideline for a 49-yard rushing touchdown trimming the lead to 12-6.

Smith looked well on their way to either tying the game or taking the lead, when wide receiver Rajon Lancaster hauled in a pass over the defender and ran it deep inside Spartan territory. 

Their chances looked even greater when Williams appeared to gain a first down inside the five yard line, but the play was negated by a holding penalty.  The Golden Eagles were stopped on fourth down, two plays later squandering a golden opportunity to score.

“I think my guys played hard today we just have to eliminate the explosive plays and make sure we capitalize on our explosive plays and go forward from there,” said Golden Eagle head coach, Brandon Wiggins.

With the Spartans still leading 12-6 midway through the fourth quarter, they continued to feature running back Brian McIntyre in the running game.  Late in the fourth quarter, McIntyre took a direct snap from under center and put the nail in the coffin by scoring a touchdown to put the game out of reach.

“We just have to stay disciplined and focused at all times. We knew that going into the game tonight and we have to continue to harp on that,” said Wiggins.  “We are young, but at the same time we have to make sure we don’t make bonehead mistakes, which cost us the ball game tonight.”

“We have Parkland next week and we will correct the mistakes we made here.  Tabor is a really good program and it was a close game, but at the same time we know what we can do on the field, so we just have to move on from there.  I just tell my guys to keep fighting, whether it’s 50 to nothing or 10 to nothing, you have to keep fighting no matter what.”

Lovelace was thrilled to come out of Thursday night’s game with a victory.  He said the plan for the game was to keep it simple and chew up time on the clock.

“When you have a running back like BJ McIntyre, who is probably one of the best running backs around, he will give you a great opportunity to win.  We have plenty of skill; it was just a matter of how many they were going to put in the box.

“Hats off to coach Carpenter and the defensive staff for what they do every week to prepare our team,” Lovelace continued.  “We always seem to lean on our defense and we have been fortunate in years past to have some athletes that score a lot of points. Now it’s kind of a combination of us doing everything we can.”