ARLEY, Ala. – After defeating Cedar Bluff in the first round of the state playoffs last week and extending their historic winning streak to 11 games, Meek returned home to Tiger Stadium Friday night for a round two matchup against Pickens County. This game was a tale of two halves as a defensive, low-scoring affair in the first half quickly turned into a shootout in the second half. Unfortunately for Tiger fans, the Tornadoes rallied to score 22 unanswered points in the final minutes of the fourth quarter to come from behind and stun Meek 44-36.
The Tiger defense took the field first to start the game and Pickens County quickly drove the ball down the field as a huge pass put them at the 12-yard line. But Meek stood tall and forced a turnover on downs. Big runs by Blake Miller and Cameron Deaver put the Tigers at the 25. Ory Frith picked up 11 and 21 yards on a couple of carries, which put Meek at the 48. Another run by Frith gave them another first run, but the Tigers quickly went backwards and were forced to turn the ball over on downs. Meek quickly forced a turnover on the first play of the series as Carson Davenport recovered a Tornado fumble, but two plays later, a Tiger fumble gave the ball right back to Pickens County.
The Tiger defense forced another Tornado turnover as Justin Freeman picked off an errant pass and Meek would have excellent field position at the 25. Miller carried the ball on all five plays of their series as he finished off the drive with a three-yard score to give the Tigers an 8-0 lead with 8:41 left in the first half. Another turnover on downs gave the ball back to Meek, but they were forced to punt. Pickens County quickly moved the ball down to the 28 on just three plays and a pass interference penalty on the Tigers moved the ball to the 11, but Meek’s defense again rose tall as Miller picked off another Tornado pass and the Tigers would go into the half with an 8-0 lead.
The fireworks would start in the second half for both teams. Meek got off to a great start in the second half as Ory Frith returned the opening kickoff 31 yards to the 36-yard line. On the first play, Deaver found a huge hole on the right side and found the end zone to give the Tigers a 14-0 lead. The Tornadoes quickly moved the ball down the field behind a pair of huge pass plays and they ended the drive with a six-yard touchdown run to make it a 14-8 game. Meek looked to respond on their next series as Frith ripped off a 48-yard run to put the Tigers at the 18. Three plays later, Deaver scored on a nine-yard, hard-nosed run to push the Tiger lead to 20-8. A pass interference penalty on just the second series of the series would end up costing the Tigers in the end as Pickens County scored on a 13-yard touchdown pass to cut it to 20-14.
A pair of huge runs by Deaver saw the Tigers move the ball down to the 26. Another Deaver run put Meek at the 10, then an illegal substitution penalty on the Tornadoes moved the ball up to the five-yard line. Deaver ended up finding the end zone for the third time in the game as his four-yard run made it 26-14, but Pickens County quickly found the end zone on the first play of its series as a 57-yard touchdown pass cut it to 26-22 with 10:56 left to go in the game. Back-to-back big runs by Miller, including his 21-yard run on fourth down, kept the series alive for the Tigers. Behind the duo of Deaver and Miller, Meek again moved the ball down the field with ease and they burned almost seven minutes off the clock. Deaver scored his fourth touchdown run of the game on a 22-yard run down the right sideline as that gave the Tigers a 36-22 lead with 3:48 to go in the contest.
Pickens County completed huge passes of 22 and 30 yards on its next series as that put the ball at the three and a two-yard run three plays later made it a 36-30 game with 2:22 left in the game. Meek looked to get a first down to close out the game, but Miller got stuffed on fourth down. The Tiger defense looked to get their biggest stop of the game, but just like what they’d been doing all night, the Tornadoes’ passing attack continued to give them fits as they completed a 19-yard and a 23-yard pass. That put them at the 21-yard line, and they scored on a 21-yard touchdown pass to tie the game up at 36. They went for two and got it as that gave them a 38-36 lead with 59 seconds left to go in the contest.
Meek had a final shot to win the game as they started from the two-yard line. A pass interference penalty on Pickens County put the Tigers at the 20 and two plays later, Deaver found Jarrett Benson for a 32-yard gain as that put them at the 48-yard line. Later on, a final heave from Deaver got picked off and returned for a touchdown as the Tigers’ dream season is now over after their 44-36 loss to the Tornadoes.
Deaver finished with 155 yards on 25 carries and four scores for Meek (11-1). Miller added 128 more on the ground and a touchdown. Frith ended up with 106 rushing yards. Davenport recovered a fumble for the Tigers, while Freeman and Miller each picked off a pass.
The Tigers will lose some key pieces to graduation in May but will still have a lot of returning players back in 2023 hungry to make another playoff run.
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