Season comes to end for Philadelphia in loss to Tartars
TAYLORSVILLE - The Philadelphia Tornadoes saw their 2019 football season come to an end Friday night as they dropped a 47-30 decision to Taylorsville in the third round of the Class 2A state playoffs.
The Tornadoes finished the season with a 12-2 record. Taylorsville, now 13-1, will host Scott Central Friday night for the Class 2A South State championship.
The Tornadoes struck first when Lideatrick Griffin scored on a one-yard run in the first quarter to put the Tornadoes on the scoreboard. Connor Long kicked the extra point and Philadelphia led 7-0 with 4:02 left in the first quarter.
The Tartars came back to tie the game in the second quarter. Travis Keyes scored on a 15-yard run. The kick was good and the game was tied at 7-7 with 11:54 left in the second quarter. The Tartars scored again on 13-yard TD pass. The kick was good and the Tartars led 14-7 with 5:25 left.
Taylorsville kicked off with a short kick and recovered the football. The Tartars drove the ball in for a touchdown. The kick was good and the Tartars led 21-7.
The Tornadoes took the kickoff and went in for a score. Griffin scored on an 18-yard run. Griffin then ran in the two point conversion and Philadelphia trailed 21-15 with 2:38 left. That's how the score stood at the half.
Taylorsville returned the second half kickoff for a touchdown. The extra point try failed and the Tartars led 27-15 with 11:37 left in the third quarter.
The Tornadoes took the kickoff and engineered a 13-play scoring drive. Griffin ran up the middle on a five-yard TD run. Long's kick was good and Taylorsville led 27-22 with 7:08 left in the third quarter.
Taylorsville held the ball most of the remainder of the third quarter. The Tartars scored on a nine-yard touchdown pass with :35 seconds left in third quarter. The kick was good and the Tartars led 33-22.
But the Tornadoes didn't give up and came back with a 10-play, 51-yard scoring drive. Trey Crockett dove into the end zone for a touchdown. The two-point conversion was good and the Tornadoes trailed 33-30 with 9:07 left in the game.
Taylorsville took the kickoff and scored four plays later on a 44-yard pass play. The kick was good and the Tartars led 40-30 with 7:21 left in the game.
Philadelphia took the kickoff but could not score. Taylorsville took over and scored five plays later when Jeffery Pittman ran into end zone from three-yards out. The kick was good and the Tartars led 47-30. And that was the final score.
"It was a disappointing loss," Coach David Frey said. "We didn't play our best game. It's been a good season and we will be losing some very good seniors to graduation. I just hated the way it ended."
Frey said the Tornadoes would lose seven starters on both sides of the ball.
All-stars
Two Philadelphia players still have some football left to play. Lideatrick "Tulu" Griffin will be playing in the Mississippi-Alabama All-Star game December 14 in Hattiesburg. Quarterback Asher Morgan will be playing in the Mississippi North-South all-star game on the Coast December 21,
Griffin has also been selected to play in the 2020 Under Armour All-America football game on January 2 in Orlando, Fla. The game is being advertised for having the top 100 high school players in the nation competing along with the best coaches, players and gear in the game. Many current and past players who made it to the NFL have played in this game. The game will be shown on ESPN2.