10/14/2009 6:00:00 PM Tornadoes cruise to 33-0 victory
The Philadelphia High School Tornadoes cruised to a 33-0 victory Thursday night in prep football action.
And frankly, that had coach Teddy Dyess a little concerned as he talked with his team after they improved their record to 7-1 overall and 2-0 in the Region 5-3A standings.
"We just aren't playing well right now," Dyess said. "We are winning but we have got to get better. We have got to pick up our pace during practice and in our games.
"This week against Heidelberg on the road needs to be a statement game for this team. There haven't been a lot of points scored against Heidelberg this year and I'm challenging our offense to really step it up."
Heidelberg High School stands at 1-7 overall and dropped a 35-12 decision to Clarkdale last week.
Southeast Lauderdale took the ball and drove down the field as it took the Tornadoes a little while to figure out their Wildcat offense. The Tigers got as far as the Tornado 35-yard line. But then C.J. Johnson recovered a fumble and returned it to the Tigers' 18-yard line.
On first down, Georgio Grace connected with Triq Patrick on an 18-yard TD pass play. Latimer Smith kicked the extra point and Philadelphia led 7-0 with 7:17 left in the first quarter.
Philadelphia kicked off. On the Tigers' second play, Lajamie Hill intercepted a pass and returned it 40 yards for a touchdown. Smith's kick was good and the Tornadoes led 14-0 with 6:23 remaining in the first quarter.
The Tornadoes forced a punt. On first down, Brandon Willis ran 65 yards for an apparent touchdown but it was called back because of a penalty. Southeast Lauderdale forced the Tornadoes to punt and then punted the ball back.
The Tornadoes drove the ball in for another touchdown. This time Willis scored on a six yard run. Smith's kick was good and Philadelphia led 21-0 with 11:52 left in the second quarter.
Later in the second quarter, Jeremy Brown recovered a fumble to set up another Philadelphia touchdown. This time, quarterback Lee Smith connected with Grace on a 50-yard TD pass play. The extra point kick was no good and the Tornadoes led 27-0 with 5:26 remaining in the half.
That's how it stood at the intermission as the Tornadoes missed a field goal try at the buzzer.
Following a scoreless third quarter, the Tornadoes put their final points on the board as Lee Smith found Grace on a 48 yard TD pass play. The extra point kick was blocked.
Philadelphia had 350 total yards. The Tornadoes had 133 rushing yards on 26 carries and 217 pass yards on nine-of-13 passing attempts.
The Tigers had 180 yards in total offense. Southeast Lauderdale rushed the ball 37 times for 137 yards and completed six-of-12 passing attempts for 43 yards. The Tigers had one interception and fumbled twice.
