The Tigers only need one quarter to run away with the game on an unforgettable homecoming night.Tuttle football defeated Western Heights 50-6 Friday at Richison Family Stadium, powered by 37 unanswered points in the first quarter of a dominant homecoming win. The win improves the Tigers’ record to 7-1 (5-0 Dist.) and keeps them atop the 4A-2 rankings for a fifth straight week.Tuttle dominated in all three phases of the game, especially in the first quarter.Tuttle scored four touchdowns on its first four offensive possessions, three through the air and one on the ground. Cornerback Preston Shoffit returned an interception 26 yards for a pick-six and linebacker Behr Vargas made a special-teams play on a muffed snap to record a safety, all in the first nine minutes.The first-quarter explosion gave the Tigers a commanding lead heading into the second quarter and set up a dominant homecoming win.“I just wanted them to play clean, and whatever happens happens,” said Tuttle coach Brad Ballard. “They played good football. We had a good week of practice, so stuff usually works out like that. I thought our kids came out and did what they were supposed to do, with all of the beautiful distractions that come with homecoming, so I thought they handled those pretty well.”Quarterback Parker Madison was named homecoming king, and he played like one, finishing with a single-game career-high four passing touchdowns, all in the first half.Madison connected with wide receiver Major Vanderburg on a 12-yard touchdown in the back corner of the end zone on Tuttle’s opening drive. The senior delivered another perfectly placed pass on a seam route to wide receiver Jordan Lane for a 30-yard touchdown pass, his first of two scores.Lane took a screen pass 28 yards for a touchdown later in the first quarter, followed by a seven-yard touchdown pass to running back Carter VanAuken for Madison’s fourth and final touchdown on the first play of the second quarter.The four-touchdown performance marked Madison’s fifth game this season with multiple passing touchdowns, bringing his season total to 17. The senior continues to improve and impress in his first year as starter, and is hitting his stride at just the right time.“Parker gets better every week. This week in practice, I think it was Wednesday, I looked at the other coaches and said, ‘I don’t think he’s thrown an incompletion yet today’,” Ballard said. “He’s been practicing extremely well, he’s a confident young man and he’s a leader. I think you can see that with his teammates voting him king tonight, so you can see what people think of him, and he earns that by the way he handles himself. Just a quality young man.”On defense, Tuttle held Western Heights scoreless until the last four minutes of the fourth quarter. The Tigers’ defense turned the Jets away on all of their first-half possessions, forcing two interceptions, three punts and two turnovers on downs to head into halftime with a
Content Source: Yahoo News
Image Credit: Getty Images
All rights to the news content and images belong to their respective copyright owners.