Monitor Photo/Russell Slaton
Malakoff Tigers football team gathers around the regional championship trophy Dec. 1 after beating Winnsboro, 58-20, to advance to the state semifinals tonight (Dec. 7) against the Brock Eagles at the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, headquarters of the Dallas Cowboys.

Monitor Photo/Russell Slaton
Malakoff head football coach Jamie Driskell hugs his son, Jack, and is congratulated by assistant coach Brent Watkins after beating Winnsboro for the regional championship to advance to the state semifinals.

Monitor Photo/Russell Slaton
Malakoff quarterback Mike Jones steps through a Winnsboro tackle on his way to a big gain Dec. 1.

The undefeated Malakoff Tigers took a 30-13 halftime lead over the previously unbeaten Winnsboro Red Raiders Dec. 1 and never looked back on their way to a 58-20 regional championship win and a berth in the state semifinals against the Brock Eagles tonight (Dec. 7).
The 14-0 Tigers are set for a same-site rematch of last year’s state semifinal game against the Eagles, with a 7 p.m. kickoff at the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, the world headquarters of the Dallas Cowboys. In last year’s semifinal, Brock beat Malakoff, 21-10. Tonight’s winner will face the victor of the Franklin-Edna semifinal for the state championship at AT&T Stadium in Arlington Dec. 14.
Against Winnsboro, the Red Raiders attempted an early-game fourth-and-10 play from the Malakoff 32-yard line, but a bad snap allowed Malakoff’s Doc Renberg and Bubba Hicks to tackle the Winnsboro quarterback at midfield. The first play thereafter, Jerrion Hall, who ran for 179 yards and four scores on the night, dashed 51 yards for a Tiger touchdown with 9:18 left in the first quarter.
Winnsboro tried another fourth-down conversion from the Malakoff 46 with 5:20 left in the first quarter, but the pass fell incomplete under a heavy Tiger rush. Two plays later, Malakoff quarterback Mike Jones scored on a 48-yard quarterback keeper to increase the Tiger lead to 14-0 with 4:29 left in the first quarter.
After Winnsboro scored a touchdown to cut Malakoff’s lead in half, Chauncey Hogg ran back the ensuing kickoff nearly 70 yards for another first-quarter touchdown to put Malakoff ahead 20-7 after the missed extra point. On Winnsboro’s following drive, Hogg picked off a Red Raider pass on the first play and returned it to the Winnsboro 36-yard line. Hall finished off that drive with a 4-yard touchdown run with 11:46 remaining in the second quarter, then Hall ran in the 2-point conversion to increase Malakoff’s margin to 28-7.
Winnsboro scored a touchdown with 1:50 left before intermission to get within 28-13, but the extra point was blocked by Hogg and returned by him for 2 points, which ended up making the halftime score 30-13, Malakoff.
During the second half, Hall had a 17-yard touchdown run at the 9:07 mark of the third quarter, (37-13, Malakoff), then Jones bulled over for another quarterback-keeper touchdown of 1 yard with 5:40 left in the third quarter (44-13, Tigers).
Winnsboro threw a touchdown pass late in the third quarter to get within 44-20, but Hall ran 1 yard for a touchdown with 10:03 left in the fourth quarter to make it 51-20, Malakoff, and Davion Johnson had a 1-yard touchdown run with 4:56 left in the game to account for the 58-20 Malakoff win.