COVINGTON, Ga. -- The Alcovy Tigers hosted the Forest Park Panthers for their 2017 Homecoming game, looking fresh after coming off a bye week as the Tigers utilized a handful of big plays en route to a 35-6 win over the Panthers Friday night.
After its 23-6 victory against The Henry County Warhawks two weeks ago — and following a tight 7-6 win against Forest Park last year, the Tigers looked ready from the opening kickoff.
It was defense that ruled the earliest series for both teams. Alcovy turned the ball over on downs on its first drive, and then senior safety, Quindrelin Hammonds registered a big hit and tackle for a loss that forced Forest Park into the same.
It was after another Panther three-and-out that forced a punt when Alcovy jumped on the scoreboard first. Alcovy’s Demetrius Tuggle fielded a punt on the 39-yard line and bolted to the sidelines, outracing the Panthers for a 61-yard punt return for a touchdown. With 6:33 left in the first quarter, the Tigers lead 7-0.
The Tigers’ defense came to play, and seemed to live in the Panthers’ backfield for most of the night. Soon the Alcovy defensive swarm would result in a takeaway. It happened after a big stick on a Forest Park ball carrier that led to a fumble which was recovered by Tuggle on the Forest Park 22 yard line.
Several plays later, and less than a minute into the second quarter, senior wideout Dee Fanning caught a two-yard pass for a touchdown from junior quarterback Cameron Anderson. The scoring toss extended Alcovy’s lead to 14-0 with 11:21 left in the second quarter.
On Forest Park’s ensuing drive, some of Alcovy’s younger defenders got into the act. Sophomore Javari Smith along with Wyatt made big stops on defense to shorten another Panther drive. Then when back on offense, Anderson connected with James Adams on a long pass play that setup the Tigers in the red zone.
From there, it was Adrian Robinson bullied his way into the end zone from about 10 yards out to give Alcovy a 21-0 lead that it would carry into halftime.
In the third quarter, Alcovy received the ball on its own 35, looking to keep momentum going. But two plays into the drive, Anderson later threw an interception that gave Forest Park’s offense good field position in the red zone.
From there, Panther freshman, Corzavius Smart took a handoff for a 10 yard touchdown to give the Panthers their first score of the game. The missed extra point kept the score 21-6, Alcovy at the 8:07 mark of the third quarter.
The third quarter went back and forth with some sloppy play and good defense by both teams. Wyatt had a sack and senior Trey Smith had a nice pass deflection in the quarter to help end Forest Park drives.
But just before the end of the third quarter, the Tigers would find scoring ground again when Hammonds lined up at quarterback and took a quarterback draw play straight through the heart of the Panther defense, untouched for a 44-yard touchdown run.
With 14 seconds left in the third quarter, the score was 28-6 Tigers.
Andrae Robinson ended the scoring on a 12-yard scamper that showed his quickness, setting up a nine-yard run that capped off the last scoring drive of the game at the 4:04 mark of the final period.
With the Homecoming Night win, Alcovy improved to are now 3-2. It was also the last non-region tune-up before opening Region 3-AAAAAA play next week when it hosts Grovetown (2-3) this coming Friday at 7:30 p.m. The Warriors defeated Academy of Richmond County, 28-0 this past Friday.
