By LARRY BOWEN
A&M Consolidated enjoyed a princely night Thursday, when the Tigers’ toad-like stretch in the first half was transformed by a barrage of turnover-induced touchdowns and a helping hand across town.
The Tigers blew open what had been a close, ugly game by scoring 49 consecutive points and rolling over Rudder 59-19 at Tigerland Stadium in a District 18-5A game moved up one day because of the threat of severe weather.
Consol (6-3, 5-1) clinched its 11th consecutive playoff appearance by bouncing back from a 24-17 loss to College Station. The Tigers regained a share of the district lead that slipped away from them six days earlier, helped when Bryan beat College Station 27-17, with the Vikings moving into a first-place tie with the Cougars and Tigers.
The Tigers will close the regular season next week at Livingston, which is next-to-last in the league.
Rudder (3-6, 2-4) dropped its second consecutive game, unable to bounce back after a painful 52-51 overtime loss to Huntsville. The Rangers saw their hopes of the school’s first postseason berth ended, and will finish the year against Bryan next week.
Although the outcome was anticipated, the lopsided score seemed a long way off when the Tigers went through a rough patch and trailed 12-10 in the middle of the second quarter. However, Consol established its superiority with a pair of touchdowns late in the first half and then pulled away by scoring on its first four possessions after intermission.
The wild first half screamed upset until the Tigers damaged Rudder’s hopes with two touchdowns in the last 35 seconds before intermission.
Rudder trailed by only 17-12 late in the half when the field position slanted toward Consol as the Rangers shanked a punt 14 yards, setting up the Tigers at the Rudder 28. Mason Hickson hooked up with Tony Williams on a 23-yard gain, and Robert Franklin scored from 3 yards out, taking an option pitch from Hickson on third-and-goal.
Rudder got the ball back at its 19-yard line with 26 seconds left. Quarterback David Hobson faced a ferocious rush and threw an ill-advised pass that was intercepted by Consol linebacker Abel Daily.
The Tigers capitalized when Hickson lofted a pretty 12-yard touchdown pass to Kennon Williams, who made a nice leaping grab in the corner of the end zone. David Gan’s extra point extended the lead to 31-12 and gave Consol 14 points in 27 seconds.
Consol’s fast finish applied a coat of paint to what previously had been a bit of an eye-sore. Both teams were coming off disappointing losses, and mistakes were plentiful after a smooth start.
The Tigers drove 88 yards to score a touchdown on the game’s opening possession. Hickson was hampered by a couple of dropped passes, but salvaged the series when he hooked up with Rodney Jernigan for a 27-yard touchdown on fourth-and-15.
Rudder came up with a quick, impressive answer. Hobson, coming off a school-record six touchdown passes against Huntsville, made his first pass against Consol count for a 50-yard touchdown to Brian Williams, who stretched to beat his defender to the football and eased into the end zone.
After that, things went south for quite a while. Franklin took the ensuing kickoff just inside the end zone, stepped across the goal line and then dropped back and knelt down in the end zone hoping for a touchback. Instead, it was ruled a safety that gave Rudder a 9-7 lead.
Special teams cost Rudder midway through the first quarter when the snap sailed far over punter Bailey Giffen’s head for a 25-yard loss. Consol took over at the Rudder 16, but had to settle for a 28-yard field goal by Gan that made it 10-9.
The teams traded interceptions, with Jaylen Steele’s 17-yard return leading to a 40-yard field goal by Giffen that pushed the Rangers ahead 12-10.
Hickson completed 11 of 25 passes for 192 yards with two interceptions in the half, but one of those misfires went through his receiver’s hands. That interception came at the Rudder 1-yard line and led to an eventual score. The Tigers forced a punt, got a nice return by Gan and then Hickson hit Tony Williams for a 27-yard touchdown to make it 19-12.
Consol easily expanded its 31-12 halftime lead, getting two scores as a result of interceptions. The Tigers finished with four interceptions and limited Hobson to 12 of 29 for 211 yards less than a week after the senior threw for 382 yards against Huntsville.
Hickson threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to Gan after Kolby Peel’s interception on the third play of the second half. Reserve running back Tre Newton scored the next three touchdowns, one coming after an interception by sophomore Jordan Woodard.
Rudder got the final points when Deshawn McMillan caught a 49-yard touchdown pass from Hobson with 2:18 remaining.
Hickson attempted only six passes in the second half but still finished 16 of 31 for 282 yards.
Story courtesy of The Eagle