Grandview can’t hold off Malakoff in fourth quarter as Zebras fall in regional final

Trailing Malakoff by five with 2:54 left, it seemed Grandview had stopped the Tigers on fourth-and-2 near midfield.

But the Zebras, who had no timeouts left, was flagged for having 12 men on the field.

It gave the Tigers a first down.

On the next play, Malakoff put the game away when Damien Jackson raced 41 yards for a score as Grandview fell 29-17 in the Class 3A Division 1 Region 2 final on Friday night at Lumpkins Stadium.

Malakoff (13-1) will face Brock in a state semifinal next week.

Grandview (11-3), which saw its season end, had defeated the Tigers 21-17 in Week 2.

With 3:14 to play, Grandview’s J.J. Castillo had cut the Tigers’ lead to 22-17 with a 17-yard run.

After a failed onside kick, Malakoff took over near midfield, but could only manage eight yards on three plays and the Zebras used all three timeouts. On fourth down, Grandview’s defense swarmed running back Jason Tennyson short of the first down, but the penalty gave Malakoff a first down.

Jackson and Tennyson proved to be a tough duo to stop.

Jackson, whose 20-yard run in the fourth quarter gave the Tigers a 15-10 lead with 11:04 to play, carried 10 times for 164 yards. Tennyson, who put Malakoff up 22-10 on a 1-yard run, finished with 24 carries for 85 yards and two scores.

For Grandview, Kason English carried 10 times for 48 yards and caught two passes for 74 yards and a touchdown. Ryder Hayes completed 8 of 15 passes for 113 yards and a score. Brandon Click caught four passes for 52 yards.

The first half was marked by big plays at the start. On the third play from scrimmage, Malakoff quarterback Mike Jones hit Chauncey Hogg for a 51-yard pass to the Grandview 11.

The Zebras’ defense made a stand forcing the Tigers to settle for a 24-yard field goal by Juan Gonzalez for a 3-0 lead with 9:09 left in the first quarter. Grandview evened things out early in the second quarter when Isaiah Sanchez connected on a 31-yard field goal at the 8:36 mark of the quarter.

The Zebras took advantage of a short punt to tie the game at 3.

Malakoff answered with a 10-play, 94-yard drive to take a 9-3 lead on a 3-yard run by Tennyson with 3:19 to play in the first half. The Tigers ran the ball on each play of the drive.

After forcing a Malakoff punt 44 seconds to play, Grandview took its first lead when English took a Hayes pass 65 yards for a score giving the Zebras a 10-9 lead with 28 seconds remaining before halftime.