TYLERTOWN — When Tylertown needed someone to jump-start its team Friday night, the Chiefs looked to none other than their standout — albeit sick — quarterback, Tyre’oune Holmes.
Forest, the 2010 3A state champions, surprised Tylertown’s home crowd by jumping out to a 21-7 second quarter lead. The Chiefs needed a spark and Holmes, who battled a virus all week, delivered.
The senior sprinted out right on a designed pass play, saw green grass ahead and tucked it away for a 61-yard touchdown run. Tylertown (2-0) scored the next 46 points for a 53-21 win over Forest (1-1).
“I think that kind of ignited the whole team, defense and everything,” Tylertown coach Jason Johnson said.
Tylertown racked up 439 rushing yards and 532 total yards in what could be one of its tougher tests of the season.
Holmes finished with 77 yards on 10 carries and two touchdowns against Forest Friday.
“He was a little sluggish and a little flat,” Johnson said of Holmes. “I think because of that, the other kids kind of feed off him and it took us a quarter to wake up.”
Senior running back Chris Jones led Tylertown with 96 yards and a touchdown.
Tylertown’s fullback duo of Philip Slocum and Craig Carson combined for 166 yards and three scores.
“Both of those guys get the hard-earned yards inside,” Johnson said. “For our offensive to click, we need to run between the tackles.”
The Chiefs used a trio of touchdowns in the second quarter to grab a 28-21 halftime lead. Another pair of scores put them up 40-21 before adding a touchdown each from Slocum and Carson to the final tally.
“We physically went to the basics and they were attacking us pretty hard,” Johnson said. “I credit that to our offensive line; our running backs running hard … Old-time, smash-mouth football is what got us back in the ball game.”
Tylertown has another tough test next Friday night against Franklin County. The Bulldogs improved to 2-0 on the young season with a 35-7 victory over out-manned Loyd Star.
“To face adversity and to be able to come back from being down, that is something a championship team needs to do,” Johnson said. “We got down. We didn’t look at the clock. We didn’t stress. We just told them to weather the storm and keep playing and something good will happen. And that’s exactly what happened.”
