PREP FOOTBALL PLAYOFFS: Meek falls in round 1 to Pickens County, 34-7

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Pickens County's Jacaurian Washington (5) with the ball / Josh McBrayer

REFORM – The Meek Tigers were looking for a huge road win in the first round of the 2017 AHSAA 1A playoffs at Pickens County, and looking for their first win in three games against the Tornadoes, but the Tigers fell, 34-7.

Each defense stood tall for most of the first quarter. Off a Meek punt, Pickens County took over at the 23-yard line and went on a seven-play, 77-yard drive that ended with a 13-yard hard-nosed run by Ja'Corian Cosby to put the Tornadoes on the scoreboard with 47.7 seconds remaining in the opening quarter. A blocked punt by the Tigers' Haydon Twilley put the Tigers in business after Payton Key returned it to the 12-yard line, but they couldn't get anything going, and they turned the ball over on downs. Pickens County started at the 9-yard line, and embarked on an amazing 13-play, 91-yard drive that ended with Aljaron Edwards finding Elliott Petty for a 13-yard score to increase the lead to 14-0 with 3:50 remaining in the first half. Each defense forced a turnover on the next series to keep it a two-score game heading into the locker rooms.

The Tigers forced a Pickens County turnover to start the second half as Aaron Billups had the ball stripped away, and Mason Irving recovered it and returned it to the 41-yard line. But again, they were forced to punt; the Meek defense answered by forcing another Tornado punt. Jermaine Hill picked off a Key pass on Meek's next series. And the Tornadoes capitalized, scoring on a 14-yard quarterback keeper by Edwards to make the score 20-0 with 3:01 remaining in the third quarter. Back-to-back punts by both teams saw Pickens County get the ball back at the 38-yard line, and Twilley picked off an Edwards pass and took it 35 yards for the score to make it a 20-7 game with 9:59 remaining in the contest.

But Jacaurian Washington gave the Meek defense fits on the next series, getting 35 yards on the first play. After the play, a face mask penalty on Meek put the Tornadoes at the 10-yard line, and Washington scored from there to increase the lead to 28-7. Pickens County added a late touchdown on a 63-yard pass from Edwards to Ta'Darien McIntosh to make the final score 34-7.

John Mark Abercrombie was held in check, getting 52 yards on 17 carries. He, along with Twilley, and the rest of the defense, had a great showing. The Tigers finish the season 7-4 under first-year head coach David Norwood, and look to continue that success going into next season.

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