Ethel football coach Adam Smith had some goals for his team this week against Vardaman.
While the Tigers didn’t get to all of those goals, they reached the one that mattered as they took a 36-33 win over Vardaman.
The Tigers improved to 5-5 on the season and will travel to Noxapater this week for the regular-season finale.
“It was the first night that we had everybody healthy,” Smith said. “We haven’t been healthy since the Leake County game. We were able to make a big defensive stand at the end of the game to hold on for the win. That was really big for us. We’ve had trouble stopping anybody here lately. We’ve given up a lot of points the last four weeks but we had everybody back and played a lot better on defense. It was more like we thought we would play this year. It was a good win for our kids. They really focused on what we told them and I was proud of them for that.”
Anton Clark returned to the lineup for the Tigers and hit a big play early as they went 72 yards for a touchdown and scored the two-point conversion.
The Tigers added two more scores in the second quarter as Jones scored on an 8-yard run and Clark scored on a 34-yard run. Both two-point conversion were good and Ethel led 24-21 at the half.
The Tigers got the ball to start the second half and Jones hit Jaylen Estes on a 26-yard touchdown pass. The try for two was good and Ethel led 32-21.
The Tigers never gave up the lead and added a 6-yard run by Clark on the fourth to take the winning margin.
“Vadaman is a really good football team and will make the playoffs,” Smith said. “They played us to the wire and the ball just bounced our way and we kind of got the breaks we haven’t been getting. We challenged them to do several things this week and we were really close on all of those and those things helped us get the win. I told them all week to focus on those goals and the scoreboard will turn out in our favor.They really focused on their jobs and I was proud of them for that.”
The Rebels had 383 yards rushing and 86 yards passing for 469 of total offense.
Jones was 5-of-8 passing for 72 yards and one TD. Clark returned to the lineup and rushed for 272 yards on 25 carries while Jones rushed for 90 yards on 25 carries. Jaylen Estes had three catches for 73 yards.
On defense, Estes had five tackles while Bobo Hubbert and Jones each had four tackles apiece. Clark, Cameron Farmer and Davion Hunt each had three tackles apiece Hunter Corley, Talon Beauchamp and Jacob Holman each had two tackles apiece. Noah Hill also had an interception.
This week’s game
Ethel will hit the road this week as they finish out the season at Noxapater.
Noxapater was open last week and is 4-5 on the season and has won two straight.
“They have some really good skill guys,” Smith said. “I think they have lost some kids this season but you have to fight that war of attrition as a first-year coach. He’s a championship caliber coach and has done it at the highest level. You can tell they are well coached and they will be pretty good moving forward. I think they match up pretty well with them. They have some good speed and some good skill guys. I feel like it will be a good game and very similar to the one we played last week.”
