Thanks to another outstanding game by Cyrus Rone, Ethel survived a wild fourth quarter for a 36-30 victory over Sebastopol.
The Tigers led 14-0 after three quarters before an offensive explosion resulted in 52 fourth-quarter points, 30 by Sebastopol and 22 by Ethel.
“Things started happening really fast,” said Coach Adam Smith. “Nobody stopped anybody in the fourth quarter. It was big play after big play.”
Ethel won because Rone made more big plays than anybody. He had touchdowns runs of 46, 68 and 6 yards and returned an interception for a TD. He finished with 26 carries for 201 yards.
“He's our Player of the Week every week,” Smith said.
Brent Bell opened the scoring for Ethel with a five-yard TD run in the second quarter. Rone's interception return in the third quarter made it 14-0 entering the hectic final period.
“It was a show those final 12 minutes,” Smith said.
Ethel outgained Sebastopol 344-260. The Tigers had 296 on the ground and 48 through the air. Anton Clark complimented Rone with 12 carries for 78 yards. Ethel was three for five on two-point conversions with two runs by Justin Hunt and one by Rone.
Rone and Clark each had six tackles.
David Williams led Sebastopol with nine carries for 135 yards and two touchdowns. His second TD gave Sebastopol a brief 23-22 lead before Ethel went back ahead to stay on Rone's 68-yard run.
The Tiger played well on defense for three quarters before wearing down in the final period, the result of having many players who go both ways.
“I'm proud of my guys. They are playing hard and starting to believe,” Smith said.
The improvement from last year, Smith's first as Ethel coach, is evidenced by the fact that the Tigers lost to Sebastopol 41-7 in the playoffs a year ago.
Ethel is 4-1 overall and 3-1 in Region 3-1A, tied for second, one game behind West Lowndes, the team the Tigers play Friday on the road. Ethel's one loss came against French Camp, a team West Lowndes defeated 26-3.
“It's going to be a tough one to win, but we will see how it goes,” Smith said.
Quarterback Marcus Jones missed the Sebastopol game with an ankle sprain. Smith hopes to have him back for West Lowndes.
