TIGERS SPANK NO. 3 GARRISON | Arp puts it on the Bulldogs, 44-9

ARP – This just in: just because you have a number, a state ranking, in front of your name does NOT make you invincible on the football field.

Garrison learned that lesson the hard way here at Arp’s Bill Herrington Tiger Stadium Friday night.

Arp ran around, over, and through the Garrison Bulldogs, 44-9, on Friday, impressive in just about every phase of the game. The Tigers finished with 252 yards rushing and three touchdowns, with Zane Borque going for 92 yards and two scores. Borque also threw a touchdown pass to Casen Burgins.

Josh Smith had seven carries for 54 yards and a touchdown, and Tanner Hunt had eight for 56 yards

Coach Wes Schminkey and the Tigers move to 2-0 on the year and look like a team that can do some real damage along the way.

Arp visits Mineola next Friday night, Sept. 12.

The Tigers went three-and-out early after stopping Garrison on a fourth-down conversion attempt.

On their second possession, though, they made it count.

Casen Burgins started the drive with a 10-yard run, and then it was a heavy dose of Zane Bourque to the Bulldogs’ 32-yard-line. Josh Smith, who had 1,500 yards a year ago, would take it from there and put the Tigers in front. Graysen Spoon added the extra point for a 7-0 Arp lead with 4:03 left in the first quarter.

The Bulldogs would move the ball on runs by Carter Crawford, Riley McGuire, and Caden Reneau, but the ball was jarred loose and Arp’s Jaxon Schminkey picked it up to give the Tigers the ball back.

On the first play after the fumble, Bourque found Hudson Orpineda for a 21-yard bomb and six points. The extra point wasn’t converted, with a bad snap. Still, with 2:20 left in the first quarter, Arp led, 13-0.

Garrison would move the ball well on their next drive, as McGuire would hit Reneau and move the ball to the Bulldog 36. A run by Avery Yarbrough got the Bulldogs to the 46, and then a McGuire run later and the Bulldogs had the ball at the Arp 20, ending the first quarter.

Disaster would strike for the Bulldogs as Arp’s Ty Langley recovered a Garrison fumble and set Arp up at their own 10.

The Tigers kept the ball on the ground with Burgins and Bourque, and then finally Smith all the way to the Garrison 15, where Arp would settle for a 32-yard field goal from Spoon to give them a 16-0 advantage with 8:19 left in the half.

Garrison, alternating between McGuire and Yarbrough, ran the ball well, setting themselves up at the Arp 39 after a pass from McGuire to Aaron Iverson. That moved it to the Arp 31.

McGuire hit Yarbrough on a pass for 13 yards to move it the 18, where Crawford would get the handoff and take it to the house for the 18 yard score.

The two-point conversion fell short, and Arp led by 10, 16-6, with 3:34 left in the half, the eventual halftime score.

Garrison came out after the break and ran like they were a cross country team, over and over, with runs from Yarbrough, Crawford, and McGuire. The Bulldogs reached the Arp 17 before stalling out, but they did get a 34-yard field goal by JT Reagan. That made it 16-9 Arp, with 6:08 left in the third quarter.

Arp said, “we can run it, too,” though, and they did, all over the Bulldogs’ ‘D, with runs from Bourque and Smith.

The big one was from Bourque, who found a gap on third down and took 57 yards to the end zone.

Spoon’s point after was good and made it 23-9 Tigers, with 2:27 left in the third.

On the next Bulldogs’ drive, McGuire dropped back to look for Smith – but found Arp’s Cornelius Pierce instead. Pierce grabbed it for an interception return for a touchdown, a 48-yard pick-six that, with Spoon’s kick, gave Arp a 30-9 lead with 40 seconds in the third.

Garrison, at the Arp 44 on the next drive, dropped back to pass again, and this time, it was Arp’s Ty Langley who was the beneficiary. Langley ALSO took the interception to the house, back-to-back pick-sixes for Arp, and this one a 60-yarder. Spoon’s extra point was good, giving Arp a 37-9 lead.

In the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs looked to just escape, running the ball five straight times with Yarbrough, Caden Leadon, Reneau, and McGuire.

At a play at the Bulldogs’ own 19-yard-line, though, bad things happened for Garrison again.

This time, McGuire dropped back to pass and was sacked by Arp’s Tanner Hunt, forcing a Bulldogs’ to punt.

Arp would add one more score. They gave Hunt the ball on five straight runs, and then Bourque scored from 7 yards out. Spoon’s kick, the final of the night, was good and that allowed for the 44-9 final score.

Defensively, the Tigers had three sacks (Hunt, Hudson Orpineda and Trip Durrett), recovered two fumbles (Langley and Schminky), had two interceptions (Langley and Cornelius Pierce), and four tackles for loss.

Arp will be on the road next week, traveling to Mineola for a 7:30 p.m. start next Friday.