As the victories continue to mount, the doubters of the McComb Tigers have become harder to find.
The Tigers’ stock as a possible playoff team continued to rise Friday night with their 33-14 victory over the Franklin County Bulldogs at C.C. Moore Stadium.
McComb running back Deonte Evans ran 13 times for 152 yards and two touchdowns as the Tigers improved to 3-0 on the season.
Evans scored on runs of 74 and 20 yards, and quarterback Lamarvin Ashley added a game-clinching 20-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter for McComb.
“We came out and executed,” McComb head coach Malcolm Jones said. “People can say what they want about us. We don’t take any of it seriously.”
Since their 62-7 victory over Loyd Star on opening night, the Bulldogs (1-2) have been outscored 53-14. They dropped a 20-0 decision to Brookhaven last week.
“We haven’t been clicking on offense,” Franklin County head coach Rickey O’Quinn Jr. said. “We’re going to get it together. We’re running some of the same things we did against Loyd Star. We just aren’t executing. We’re going to turn it around.”
Franklin County took the opening kickoff and marched 70 yards on three plays, culminating in quarterback Milton Griffin’s 65-yard scoring pass to receiver Calvin Robinson.
Griffin hit Robinson over the middle at the Franklin County 45. The speedy Robinson then cut to his left and dashed down the Bulldogs’ sideline to complete the scoring play just a minute, 43 seconds into the game. Coleman Graves added the extra point to make it 7-0.
McComb quickly answered with a 5-play, 50-yard drive capped by Ashley’s 25-yard scoring toss to receiver Quatavious Smith in the left rear corner of the end zone to slice the margin to 7-6 with 8:43 to go in the opening quarter. The PAT try failed.
From there, the McComb defense tightened. Led by defensive tackle Chris Hughes, the Tigers forced Franklin County into two consecutive three-and-out possessions. The Bulldogs also punted nine times on the night.
Hughes finished the game with 13 tackles — including seven solos and five tackles for a loss — to go along with two quarterback sacks.
The Tigers rode their defense to the lead early in the second quarter. On McComb’s first play on offense in the second quarter, Evans went off right tackle and broke free down the McComb sideline en route to a 74-yard scoring run to put McComb ahead 12-7 with 8:58 before halftime. The two-point pass attempt failed.
Robinson appeared to have pulled Franklin County closer on McComb’s next possession when he intercepted an Ashley pass and returned it 68 yards for the touchdown. The score, however, was wiped away by a roughing the passer penalty against the Bulldogs.
McComb took advantage of the penalty five plays later when the snap from center went directly to Evans. The running back then went up the middle for a 20-yard touchdown run to make it 18-7.
McComb’s defense recorded its second safety in two weeks when defensive end Denzell Jackson tackled Franklin County running back Billy Norman in the end zone 20-7 in the third quarter.
The Tigers drove 52 yards on their ensuing drive, with Ashley capping it with a 20-yard touchdown run to make it 27-7.
Ashley also was 7-of-17 passing for 117 yards. He threw for one touchdown and one interception.
Ashley went straight up the middle, then juked a defender to his left to finish off the run.
McComb’s lead went to 33-7 when backup quarterback Alex Woodall found Kevontay Dillon in the left corner of the end zone on a 30-yard scoring toss with 3:50 to play.
Franklin County scored its final touchdown of the game when Davis connected with receiver Derrick Bethley on a 12-yard scoring toss with 2:19 to play. Graves added the PAT.
