By COSMO COSSEY
Sports Connection Team
Cross County took the opening kick-off down in Marked Tree territory before coughing the ball up with Dewayne Pollion recovering the ball at the Indians’ 40-yard line with 5:49 left. Marked Tree gave the ball back a few players as they fumbled the ball with Cross County recovering at their own 42-yard line with 4:43 left in the opening quarter. The Junior Thunderbirds turned the ball over on their next possession as they were stopped on fourth down with own 40-yard line with 1:02 left. The Junior Indians capitalized on the turnover as Dylan Malone connected with Pollion on a short pass with Pollion turning it into a 60 yard touchdown pass to make it 6-0 with 46 seconds left. Malone added the two-point conversion run making it 8-0. The first quarter ended during Cross County’s drive.
The Junior Thunderbirds had to punt the ball away from their continued drive from the opening quarter with Marked Tree taking over at their own 29-yard line with 6:19 left. The Junior Indians put together a 71 yard drive with Pollion finishing off the drive with a 35 yard run to make it 14-0 Marked Tree with 3:44 left. P.J. Powell added the two-point conversion run to push the Junior Indians’ lead to 16-0. Marked Tree’s defense came up big as J.C. Campbell intercepted a Cross County pass and returned it to the Junior T-birds’ 28-yard line. The Junior Indians had a touchdown called back before turning the ball over on downs at the Cross County six-yard line with 48 seconds left in the half. The half ended during the Junior Thunderbirds possession with Marked Tree leading 16-0.
Powell added to the Marked Tree lead with a 32 yard run on the Junior Indians’ first possession of the second half to make it 22-0. D’Angelo Risper added the two-point conversion run making 24-0 with 7:08 left. The Junior Indians got the board again when Pollion sprinted 82 yards for a touchdown with just over a minute left to make it 30-0 Indians. Jeffry Burns ran in the two-point conversion to make it 32-0 Marked Tree. The mercy clock started with the Cross County kick-off return. The third quarter ended with the Junior T-birds in Marked Tree territory.
Cross County had to punt the ball away and the ball rolled out of bounds at the Junior Thunderbirds’’ 25-yard line with 5:53 left in the game. The teams traded possessions before Cross County put together a scoring drive with about 1:24 left to make it 32-6. The two-point conversion was good to make the final score 32-8 Marked Tree.
“I’m pleased with the team’s effort tonight, wish we could have had the same effort this past Monday,” head coach Michael Wages said after the game. “The team responded well from the short turn around and had two good days of practice getting ready for tonight,” Wages added.