Trevarious Langford with the interception Photos by Kyle Thornton

Football season ends in second round

By Michael Butler

Tallassee's football season came to a close on Friday night in Round 2 of the Class 5A state playoffs. The Tigers lost to Charles Henderson 34-7.

THS finished 7-5 reaching the second round for the first time since 2017.

"We ran into a good football team," Tallassee head coach Mike Battles said. "Our kids played hard and did the best they could."

The Trojans' Jywon Boyd was a one-man wrecking crew doing damage on both sides of the ball. He caught nine passes for 188 yards with two touchdowns and picked off three Tyler Ellis' passes.

Charles Henderson built a 6-0 first half lead on a pair of Nikolas Peerson field goals of 48 and 36 yards. Plus, Peerson pinned Tallassee deep with touchback kickoffs.

"We played most of the first half on our side of the (field)," said Battles.

After a Boyd interception late in the second quarter, Charles Henderson got its first touchdown nine plays later with a four-yard run by Antonio Frazier for a 13-0 halftime lead.

"They were difficult. They had size and speed," Battles said. "We ran out of gas and they jumped on us."

After falling behind 20-0 early in the third quarter, the Tigers got a break on a 4th and 1 defensive stop at the Charles Henderson 35. Five plays later, Tallassee was on the scoreboard for the first time with Lil' Josh Griffin's one-yard run. It was 20-7, but the Tigers could draw no closer.

Rushing yards were fairly even. Henderson had 142 yards on the ground to Tallassee's 138, but the Trojans made big plays through the air. Quarterback Parker Adams was 14 of 27 for 248 yards with the two TDs to Boyd. The Tigers' Trevarious Langford had an interception.

Griffin celebrates the Tigers' lone score with Ben Carwile

Griffin led the Tigers in rushing with 68 yards on 11 carries. Zach Coleman was the top ground gainer for Charles Henderson with 15 runs for 111 yards and a touchdown.

"It's tough, but this game doesn't define this year," Battles added. "These seniors made their mark after week six when they could've thrown in the towel. Everybody would've patted them on the back and been okay with it, but they stuck it out and we won five straight and got to the second round of the playoffs. That's what I'll look back at it."

A dozen seniors finished their high school football careers on Friday. Reaching the second round has now happened 11 times in program history. Five of those have come under Battles.

"The thing about the playoffs is everybody wants to get in, but only one team is going to finish with a win. Everybody else is going to have to lose. That's just part of it. I'm proud of them."

*Photos by Kyle Thornton