Eufaula, Russell County combine for 115 points

Please forgive Eufaula’s Ladarius Ware for being exhausted after Friday’s game against Russell County.

“It feels like this was the longest game we’ve played all year,” the senior defensive back said.

He wasn’t exaggerating. The Tigers outscored the Warriors 65-50 in what was one of the wildest games ever played at Tiger Stadium.

Eufaula (6-4) rushed for 455 yards and scored 44 points in the first half. Yet it seemed that the Tigers could never pull away from the Class 6A Warriors (2-8) in the three-hour contest.

Russell County’s Deonta Holt was the main reason why. Holt was one of the smallest players on the field. But the 5-8, 167 lb. senior wowed Eufaula’s homecoming crowd by gaining 491 all-purpose yards and scoring five touchdowns.

“He put on the best performance I’ve seen in 25 years of coaching,” EHS coach Dan Klages said. “It’s not even close. Some of it might have been because of not so good tackling on our part, but you have to give him his due.”

Holt could have finished with even more yards and another touchdown. But his 98-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter was nullified due to a block in the back near midfield.

The points came early and often for both teams. Eufaula’s Ware returned an interception 25 yards for a touchdown on the game’s first play from scrimmage. Eufaula led 7-0 with just 10 seconds removed from the clock.

It was a sign of things to come.

The Warriors struck 80 seconds later when Holt took the handoff and sprinted 41 yards for a touchdown. The visitors took their only lead with 7:28 remaining in the first quarter after quarterback AJ Williams connected with Anthony Buchannon for a 25-yard touchdown strike in the back of the end zone. Buchannon caught the pass between two Tiger defenders. Russell County led 12-7.

Eufaula came right back thanks to some nice runs from Arenza Johnson, and went ahead for good on quarterback Demonte Jett’s 14-yard scamper on fourth and one. The extra point kick by Will McKee made the score 14-12.

Jett added a 3-yard touchdown run later in the quarter, and the Tigers led 21-12. His touchdown was set up by an interception and nice return from Tyreece Mayo.

The teams traded possessions before Eufaula’s Greg Hill extended his team’s lead by returning an interception 60 yards for a touchdown. Holt answered with a 6-yard touchdown run. Williams added the two-point conversion, and the Warriors were within 28-20 with 4:43 remaining in the first half.

Eufaula scored the game’s next 16 points on a 52-yard run from Ware, a safety and then a 29-yard touchdown run from Travez Streeter. Streeter’s touchdown and McKee’s extra point gave the Tigers a 44-20 lead.

However, Holt scored on an 11-yard touchdown less than 30 seconds later. He set up his touchdown one play earlier by returning the kickoff 84 yards. Eufaula led 44-28 at halftime.

The two teams failed to score on their first possessions of the second half, but Eufaula cashed in on a poor Russell County punt and cracked 50 points after Hill scored on a 32-yard reverse. But Holt scored two plays later on a 67-yard run around right end. The score was 51-36 with 3:30 remaining in the third quarter.

Eufaula’s Michael Mayo scored the first points of the fourth quarter when he returned an interception 70 yards for a touchdown. McKee kicked the extra point, and the Tigers led 58-36.

But Holt wasn’t finished. He returned the ensuing kickoff 85 yards for a touchdown, and the Warriors were within 58-44 with 9:31 remaining.

However, Eufaula was able to score one more touchdown and use nearly five minutes of clock on its next possession. A 50-yard drive was capped off by a 21-yard touchdown run by Streeter.

Williams scored on a 5-yard touchdown run with 26.6 seconds remaining to complete scoring.

“On a night we had to score 51, we scored 65,” Klages quipped.

The last time Eufaula scored that many points in a game was 1987, in a 69-0 win against Eutaw.