Observations from Malakoff’s 35-7 win over Gladewater in Region semifinal

By Michael V. Hannigan/HCN

TYLER — The Malakoff offense shook off a lackluster start to turn a 7-7 halftime score into a 35-7 win over Gladewater in the Region II Semifinal Saturday afternoon.

Malakoff got a spark from running back Dedric Davis in the third quarter and big plays from Andreas Garrett to turn things around offensively, while the defense was able to stand toe-to-toe with the Bears and shut them down.

The win puts the Tigers into the Regional final for just the second time in school history. Malakoff will be taking on Atlanta 7:30 p.m. Friday, Dec. 7, at Pine Tree ISD.

Here are my 10 observations from a sun-soaked afternoon at Christus TMF Rose Stadium.

— Very few teams can match the physicality of the Tigers. In the first half, the Gladewater offense lined up in power formations and ran the ball straight at Malakoff, daring the Tigers to try and stop them. And the strategy worked … sort of. The Bears controlled the clock in the first half, holding the ball for about 18 minutes and were 3-for-4 on fourth down conversions. But the Tiger defense only allowed Gladewater into the end zone once. In the second half, Gladewater tried to open things up more, throwing more passes and trying to get to the edge, but the Tiger defense was ready and shut down the Bears. Shout out to Defensive Coordinator Brent Watkins for doing a great job getting his guys ready to play every week.

— The Bears first drive of the game was stopped by an Andreas Garrett interception at the 1 yard line. More about Garrett when we get to the offense, but his pick was a HUGE play to keep Gladewater from scoring.

— Gladewater used two quarterbacks and both of them are going to have bad dreams about the Tiger pass rush. Malakoff put pressure on the Bears all game long and had multiple sacks.

— Can we just say it? Caleb Adams is a defensive beast. Dominant game from the senior Saturday afternoon.

— We cheer for the touchdowns and the turnovers, but sometimes an important, game-changing play can go unnoticed. One such play happened late in the second quarter with the score tied 7-7. Gladewater’s Kale Perot intercepted a Malakoff pass near the 40 and took off down the left sideline with blocking in front of him. It looked like Perot would score with about 1:30 left before the half. With the Bears scheduled to get the ball to start the third quarter, Gladewater could have started stacking points. Instead, Perot was tracked down by Malakoff’s Brenden McClintock, who tackled Perot at the 13. McClintock’s hustle preserved the tie because Gladewater eventually missed a field goal attempt on the last play of the half.

— Malakoff got a second half spark by going to a two running back formation and feeding Dedric Davis, who had 5 carries for 39 yards in the third quarter and a 4-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter. Coach Jamie Driskell said the dual running backs were in the game plan all along, but because the Tigers ran so few plays in the first half that they couldn’t get to it until the third quarter.

— On a day when everything seemed like a grind offensively, Andreas Garrett was able to provide much-needed big play capability. Although the WR was held without a catch in the first half, he took a sweep 65 yards down the left sideline for the Tigers first touchdown. Then he made a beautiful over the shoulder catch on a 36-yard bomb from Darion Peace for Malakoff’s second touchdown. That play was something special, with Peace moving in the pocket to find just enough room to get the throw away and giving Garrett a chance. Garrett added a 33-yard catch later. According to my unofficial stats, Garrett had 134 yards from scrimmage for the game while the rest of the offense had 130.

— Great job by Colby Rush recovering a Gladewater fumble that set up a Malakoff touchdown in the fourth quarter.

— Scoring plays for the Tigers included:

• Andreas Garrett, 65-yard run, 3:25 2Q
• Darion Peace 36-yard pass to Andreas Garrett, 5:16 3Q
• Keevie Rose 13-yard run, :42 3Q
• Dedric Davis 4-yard run, 6:21 4Q
• Darion Peace 25-yard pass to Parker Busch, 6:05 4Q

— I wrote about it after last week’s game, but I’ll write about it again. Malakoff’s fans travel well, are loud and a big part of the Tigers’ success. Great job, Malakoff fans. As Superintendent Randy Perry often says, “It’s a great day to be a Tiger.”