By Austin Bishop
NOXAPATER — What a difference a week can make. And a really good day of practice doesn’t hurt either.
The Ethel High School Tigers bounced back from a disappointing two-point loss to French Camp Academy two weeks ago to blow past Region 3-1A foe Noxapater 51-16 on Friday night.
“I’m proud of my kids,” said Ethel head coach Paul Dees following the road win. “I thought they bounced back well. We practiced hard all week. On Tuesday we had the best practice since I’ve been there and we played like it.”
Ethel recovered three fumbles and a bizarre free kick in the first quarter to help ignite the runaway victory.
“We preach that you create your own things, and we did that tonight,” Dees said after the game. “I just hate this team didn’t show up last week.”
On the first play of Noxapater’s second possession of the game freshman quarterback Ethan Hamilton broke free for a 59-yard touchdown run. Josh Drury then scored the two-point conversion on the swinging gate play to make it 8-0 with 8:26 left in the first quarter.
From there, everything began to roll Ethel’s way.
Just three plays later Ethel scored on a 34-yard run by Matt Morgan and tied the game when Alexander Erving skirted the left end for the two-point conversion with 7:37 left in the quarter.
Two plays later a high snap gave Ethel the ball at the Noxapater 1-yard line, setting up a touchdown on a quarterback sneak by Ethel’s Hunter Dempsey. Erving again ran in the conversion to make it 16-8 with 6:44 left in the quarter.
Three plays later Noxapater again fumbled the ball away, setting up a three-play, 34-yard drive for Ethel that saw Morgan score on a 9-yard run. Erving’s third conversion of the quarter put the winners up 24-8.
Following a Noxapater punt, EHS drove 49 yards five plays to go up 30-8 with 1:18 left in the first quarter on an 8-yard run by Morgan.
At the end of the first quarter Ethel gained possession of the ball following its kickoff when an EHS player touched the ball first — after it had gone the necessary 10 yards — and the referee inadvertently blew the whistle. Since it was a free kick, the last team that touches the ball has possession, giving it to Ethel.
The visitors took over at the 33-yard line and four plays later scored on a 26-yard run by Morgan with 11:35 left in the half. Morgan’s conversion made it 38-8.
Ethel added another first-half touchdown on a 6-yard run by Morgan with Dempsey adding the kick to put the winners up 45-8 at the half.
Ethel went up 51-8 in the third quarter when Nick Winters scored on a 1-yard run.
Noxapater’s last touchdown came on 6-yard fourth-quarter run by Nathan Stone, who also ran in the two-point conversion.
Morgan rushed for 108 yards on nine carries, while Erving picked up 107 yards on 11 carries.
Dempsey was 2-of-2 passing for 45 yards with both of those catches being made by Morgan.
The Noxapater Tigers were held to 66 yards of total offense, with Hamilton leading the way offensively with 42 rushing yards on three attempts.
Keith Collins and Morgan led EHS with seven tackles each, while Erving had six and Chance Maddox, Dylan Simmons and Channin Green recorded four stops each. Winters also had an interception.
Next up Ethel is a home game at 7 p.m. Friday against South Leake. Homecoming activities are set to begin at 6 p.m.
