Monitor Photo/Russell Slaton
Malakoff’s James Studley runs after catching a third-quarter 54-yard pass from Mike Jones, downed at Liberty-Eylau’s 9-yard line.

Monitor Photo/Russell Slaton
Malakoff middle linebacker Parker Poteete tries to stop Liberty-Eylau’s quarterback in the open field Dec. 6.

Monitor Photo/Russell Slaton
Malakoff running back Jason Tennyson, who rushed for 96 yards against Liberty-Eylau, carries in Tiger territory.

Monitor Photo/Russell Slaton
Malakoff running back Jerrion Hall is upended by a Liberty-Eylau defender during Dec. 6’s State Quarterfinal.

Monitor Photo/Russell Slaton
Malakoff’s Michael Elliott, who had 8 tackles against Liberty-Eylau, celebrates making a defensive stop.

Monitor Photo/Russell Slaton
Malakoff quarterback Mike Jones, who ran for 154 yards Dec. 6, pushes away a Liberty-Eylau Leopard.

TYLER–Dec. 6, the Malakoff Tigers defeated Liberty-Eylau 35-0 in the State Quarterfinals to win the Region II championship and advance to a Class 3A Division I State Semifinal matchup with the Paradise Panthers, who won the Region I title by beating Shallowater Dec. 6 in Abilene, 32-15.
Malakoff and Paradise will play Dec. 12 (today) in the State Semifinal at Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, with kickoff at 7 p.m. Malakoff enters the contest 14-0 for the 2024 season while Paradise is 12-2. The other State Semifinal matches the 13-1 Columbus Cardinals with the 14-0 Edna Cowboys.That game is Dec. 12 in Houston. To get there, Columbus won the Region III championship over Franklin, 62-42, while Edna defeated Llano in the Region IV Final, 41-14. The winners of the two State Semifinal games will face off Dec. 19 for the State Championship at AT&T Stadium in Arlington.
Against Liberty-Eylau, Malakoff’s Bugg Jones recovered the fumbled opening kickoff at the Leopards’ 33-yard line. Later, with 7:36 left in the first quarter, Jerrion Hall scored Malakoff’s first touchdown, a 1-yard run.
Malakoff running back Jason Tennyson added a 14-yard touchdown run with 1:16 remaining in the first quarter to extend the Tigers’ lead to 14-0 after Jacob Padron’s extra point. With 4:01 left until halftime, Mike Jones scored a quarterback keeper touchdown covering 6 yards to increase the Tigers’ advantage to 21-0.
Malakoff’s defense stopped a Liberty-Eylau scoring drive 2 minutes before halftime when Michael Elliott sacked for a 9-yard loss Leopard quarterback Trip Baysinger on a third-and-13 play at Malakoff’s 27-yard line, forcing a punt.
With 9:15 left in the third quarter, Tennyson scored his second touchdown, this time a 1-yard run that built a 28-0 advantage. After that, another Leopard scoring threat was stopped on fourth-and-4 from Malakoff’s 24-yard line when the Liberty-Eylau pass fell incomplete with 5:34 left in the third quarter.
With 3:51 left in the game, Malakoff’s Davion Johnson ran 2 yards for a touchdown, as the Padron extra point accounted for the 35-0 score. Then, with 1:15 remaining in the contest, a Liberty-Eylau fourth-and-6 pass from Malakoff’s 14-yard line was incomplete.
Mike Jones, who ran for 154 yards, also completed 4 of 6 passes to total 84 yards. Tiger middle linebacker Parker Poteete led Malakoff with 13 tackles, followed by Studley’s 12 stops.