Written by Alex Farrer, Rome News-Tribune sports writer, published 11/28/09
If people are still not believing in this Darlington football team, now is the time to get on the bandwagon. A week after surprising many by defeating Commerce, the Tigers did it again on Friday night by shutting out No. 6 Twiggs County 17-0.
The Darlington defense continued their superb play of late by forcing four turnovers and also stopping the Cobras on four fourth-down attempts in the third-round contest at Chris Hunter Stadium.
“The guys that work with our defense every day, they put together a tremendous game plan,” said Darlington coach Tommy Atha. “They spend countless hours in the film room, and there’s very few times you come by our school and one of those guys in that room breaking down film.
“I am truly blessed to have a bunch of kids on defense that know what they’re doing, are passionate about it and have the ability to make plays.”
The Tigers will now move into the Final Four where they will face off with Savannah Christian next Friday. Home field will be determined by a coin-flip today at 11 a.m. in Macon since the two teams are both one-seeds.
After fumbling away the opening kickoff, the Darlington defense forced a turnover-on-downs and then scored on their first offensive possession. Tylon Garrett plunged in from one yard out to put the Tigers on the board in the first quarter. Garrett finished with 140 yards on 27 carries.
The bend-but-don’t-break mentality of the defense was showcased in the game as Twiggs County had five opportunities in Darlington territory but weren’t able to come away with points.
"You can’t always measure the size of a man’s heart, and this football team’s got the biggest heart,” said Atha. “There’s a lot of teams that win by out-athleting people, and there’s a lot of teams that rise to the occasion and we’re one of those teams that just refuses to give up even though the other team may have a little more talent.”
Darlington stretched their lead to 10 on their first offensive possession of the second half when kicker Ben Davidson connected on a 34-yard field goal. The final score of the night came on an 11-yard run by Cedric Spivey after the Darlington defense had forced another turnover-on-downs by the Cobras offense a few plays earlier. Sophomore cornerback Ivy Duggan had an interception as well as junior safety Tev’n Hamilton.
Atha said that his team didn’t talk about how good of a season it has been before the game because their focus was the 48 minutes ahead of them.
“We told them we’re going to deal with the here and now,” said Atha. “And these boys believe they’re going to win. And because of that they get out there and make plays and rise to the occasion.”
Senior lineman Thad Mathis, who played most of the game with an apparent broken foot, said that this team continues to fight and that makes him want to be on the field.
“We just came out really fired up tonight,” said Mathis. “I can’t begin to describe how much we’ve pulled together, seniors through freshman.”
