Monitor Photo/Russell Slaton
Malakoff running back Jason Tennyson follows the blocking of James Studley against Tatum.

Monitor Photo/Russell Slaton
All eyes are on Malakoff receiver Jack Hustead, who tiptoes down the sideline versus Tatum.

Monitor Photo/Russell Slaton
Malakoff receiver Kayland Davis turns through the end zone after a wide-open 57-yard touchdown.

Monitor Photo/Russell Slaton
Malakoff’s Michael Elliott (right, who led the Tigers with five tackles) celebrates forcing a fumble.

Monitor Photo/Russell Slaton
Malakoff tight end Parker Poteete barrels down the field for a 42-yard touchdown reception.

Monitor Photo/Russell Slaton
Malakoff quarterback Mike Jones (who also ran for a 61-yard touchdown) outruns a Tatum defender.

TYLER–The 11-0 Malakoff Tigers football team defeated the Tatum Eagles 62-13 at Tyler’s Rose Stadium Nov. 14 for the Bi-District championship, winning their 27th game in a row and advancing to the Area round where the Tigers will face the Maypearl Panthers.
To set up that contest, 7-4 Maypearl beat Pottsboro, 45-37, in another Nov. 14 Bi-District game, which was played in Mesquite. Malakoff-Maypearl kicks off at 7 p.m. Nov. 21 (tonight) at Ennis’ Lion Memorial Stadium.
The winner of the Malakoff-Maypearl game will face the victor from the Jefferson-Grandview game, also being played Nov. 21 (in Athens). Last season, Malakoff beat Maypearl, 49-0, in the Bi-District round in Corsicana for the Tigers’ first playoff step toward an undefeated Class 3A Division I State championship.
Against the Tatum Eagles, Malakoff quarterback Mike Jones started the Tiger scoring with a 42-yard touchdown pass to Parker Poteete on third-and-10 with 7:10 left in the first quarter. Jones added a 61-yard touchdown run with 5:30 remaining in the opening quarter to extend the Malakoff lead to 14-0.
The next Tatum possession, the Eagles fumbled, recovered by Poteete at Tatum’s 24-yard line. Jerrion Hall capped off the ensuing Malakoff drive with a 2-yard touchdown run to make it 21-0 Malakoff with 2:32 left in the opening quarter.
Next, Tatum entered Tiger territory but fumbled, which Daniel Norrell recovered at Malakoff’s 43-yard line toward the end of the first quarter. After that fumble recovery, the ensuing Tiger drive was helped by a late Tatum hit out of bounds, a 15-yard penalty that put the ball on Tatum’s 12 early in the second quarter.
Eventually, Hall had a 12-yard touchdown run with 10:25 left in the first half. An offsides penalty on Tatum before Malakoff’s extra-point attempt prompted the Tigers to try a 2-point conversion, a run which the Eagles stopped, leaving the Malakoff lead at 27-0.
Following that, a Tatum drive aided by a Malakoff late hit out of bounds penalty ended when the Eagle running back fumbled before crossing the goal line, with Malakoff recovering the ball in the end zone for a touchback with 4:50 remaining until halftime. The Malakoff drive that followed led to another Tiger touchdown, this time a 16-yard misdirection screen pass to Jason Tennyson with 2:22 left before intermission for a 34-0 Malakoff lead.
Malakoff added another first-half touchdown at the 1:05 mark of the second quarter – a Jones 57-yard pass to a wide-open Kayland Davis for a 41-0 halftime advantage.
In the second half, Tennyson had a 5-yard touchdown run that moved the Malakoff lead to 48-0 before Tatum scored on a 40-yard touchdown pass (the 2-point conversion run failed) that made it 48-6, Tigers, with 8:11 left in the third quarter. Later, with 2:54 left in the third, Tennyson answered with another touchdown run, this one for 1 yard to increase the Tiger lead to 55-6.
Tatum scored from midfield late in the third quarter (55-13, Malakoff), then Malakoff’s Hall had a 1-yard touchdown run with 9:02 remaining in the game that upped the Tiger advantage to 62-13 after Jacob Padron’s extra point.
Malakoff’s offense totaled 515 yards, including 239 passing yards by Jones (with three touchdowns in the air and one on the ground). Tennyson ran for 108 yards and two touchdowns, with Hall adding 57 yards on nine carries, three of those for touchdowns.