Tornadoes wrap Region 5-2A championship

Philadelphia Tornados wrapped up the Region 5-2A championship Friday night as they defeated the Newton Tigers 50-28 in their final regular season game for both teams.

Philadelphia, now 5-5, will host Pelahatchie this Friday night in the first round of the stater football playoff.

“It was a good win, one of our biggest in a while,” Coach David Frey said. “We started blitzing our inside linebackers when they took the lead in the third quarter and that shut them down.”

The Tornadoes played a tough non-region schedule and started the season 0-5. But  they finished the season with five straight wins and won their region championship.

“Honestly, that’s how I thought it was going to go this year,” Frey said. “I told everyone before the season started, we might go 0-5 and then win the district. That first five games got us ready for the next five and now the playoffs.”

The Tornados struck early as quarterback Dee Burnside connected with Austin Donald on a 65-yard pass. The extra point was blocked and the Tornados led 6-0 with 11:40 left in the first quarter.             

The Tornados kicked off  and held Newton to 4 downs. Five plays later, Burnside connected with Keathan Graham for a 73-yard touchdown pass. The try for two failed and the Tornadoes led 12-0 with 8:27 left in the first quarter.

Newton responded with a six-play drive that resulted in a 39-yard touchdown pass. The try for two failed and the Tornadoes led 12-6 with 6:29 left in the first quarter.

Philadelphia scored early in the second quarter when Donald scored on a 39-yard touchdown run. Burnside’s pass to Darius Grady was good on the two point conversion, and the Tornadoes led 20-6 with 9:39 left in the second quarter.

Newton scored on a 46-yard run with 6:34 left in the quarter. The 2 point conversion was good and Tornadoes led 20-14.

Following the second half kickoff, Jacammeron Boler scored on a four-yard run. The two point conversion failed and the Tornadoes led 26-14 with 5:09 left in the half.

Newton closed out the first half scoring with a one-yard run. The two-point conversion was good and the Tornadoes led 26-22 at the half.

Newton scored first in the third quarter on a pass and went up 28-26.

The Tornadoes responded with 24 unanswered points to take the victory. The first touchdown, Donald scored on a 36-yard run. The Tornadoes cashed in on the two-point conversion and led 34-28 with 1:55 left in the third quarter.

The Tornadoes wrapped it up in the fourth quarter. First, Boler scored on a 73-yard run. Later, Donald scored on a four-yard run. Both two-point conversions were good and the Tornadoes are playoff bound.

Donald finished with 135 yards. Burnside had 68 rushing yards and completed 6-of-8 passes for 144 yards. Rush ran for 64 yards. Bernard Parker rushed for 58 yards.