By BY BRUCE HIXON – SPORTS EDITOR
It may not have been the perfect game, but it was a perfect ending for the Brewton Middle School Tigers.
BMS wrapped up an undefeated season in dominating fashion Tuesday, as it completed a season sweep of the W.S. Neal Blue Eagles with a 32-6 victory at Brewton Municipal Stadium.
Not only did the Tigers post an 8-0 record this season, but the program extended its winning streak to 13 games dating back to week three of last year.
While the Tigers beat W.S. Neal 32-12 back in the season opener, the way BMS won the second time around was much different.
The Blue Eagles had three turnovers, two punts blocked and fell victim to an onside kick in the first meeting. This time BMS won with a dominant running game, clutch passing and a stingy defense.
The Tigers amassed 342 yards of offense, 307 of which came on the ground. Quarterback Wil Riggs completed all five of his passes and threw touchdowns on his first four attempts. Meanwhile the BMS defense allowed just 16 first half yards and did not surrender a first down until the third quarter. By that time the Tigers were well on their way with a 19-0 lead.
About the only thing that slowed BMS down was itself. The Tigers drove all the way down to the W.S. Neal 18-yard line on the opening series only to fumble the ball away.
Thanks to a three-and-out posted by the Tigers' defense and a short W.S. Neal kick, it did not take long for BMS to threaten again.
The Tigers regained possession at the W.S. Neal 23-yard line and this time they cashed in on the good field position when Riggs found James Matthews on a seven-yard touchdown pass on a third-and-goal situation. Riggs extended the lead to 7-0 when he booted the extra point with 2:17 left in the first quarter.
BMS struck again on its first series of the second quarter when it drove 66 yards over nine plays. While Jaren Jackson, who amassed 94 yards rushing on 12 attempts had the biggest play along the way with a 30-yard gain, it was a five-yard touchdown toss from Riggs to Matthews that got BMS into the end zone. It remained a 13-0 lead for the home team when the extra point failed with 4:13 left in the half.
It was the Tigers' special teams that set up another score before the first half concluded. Trae Williams partially blocked Quinton Burnett's punt and the Tigers took over again in W.S. Neal territory at the 34-yard line.
The possession ended just like the previous two when Riggs found Matthews again, this time on a nine-yard scoring strike with just 15 seconds left in the half. Although Riggs was stopped on a two-point run, BMS had a 19-0 lead.
It took W.S. Neal, which had a four-game winning streak snapped and finished its season with a 4-4 record, just two plays in the third quarter to do what it was unable to accomplish in the first half. The Blue Eagles picked up their initial first down of the game when DeParish Campbell ran for 21 yards.
W.S. Neal eventually drove all the way to BMS' 26-yard line where it was stopped on downs.
It did not take long for the Tigers to cover the 74 yards. David Ikner, who led the BMS ground game with 131 yards on just seven attempts, got the ball back into Blue Eagle territory with a 30-yard gain. Williams and Kirk Moore followed with 11-yard runs to set up another touchdown throw by Riggs, this one to Williams from 11 yards out. Riggs' successful PAT kick extended the lead to 26-0 with 49 seconds left in the third quarter.
W.S. Neal's biggest highlight of the game came on the last play of the frame when T.J. Taylor bounced off a pair of tacklers and won a 64-yard dash across the goal line.
It took BMS just 17 seconds and one play from scrimmage to get that score back when Ikner countered with a 62-yard touchdown run that accounted for the rest of the 32-6 margin.