AND THE ETBLITZ.COM TEAM OF THE WEEK IS… | The TATUM EAGLES!
For a second straight week – the second week of the ETBlitz.com Team of the Week Award – we have a team from the area that is undefeated and has knocked off a highly-ranked team that was standing in their way.
And this team, our team we’re honoring this week, has played TWO state-ranked teams, beaten them BOTH, and plays a THIRD team that was recently state-ranked team this Friday!
We’re talking about the Tatum High School Eagles, the ETBlitz.com Team of the Week, for the week of Sept. 2-6!
Let us correct that: the now 10th-ranked Tatum Eagles! The Eagles are ranked 10th in the newest Dave Campbell’s Texas Football Class 3A-Division I poll, which was released Monday. We’ll have the full rankings later today here on ETBlitz.com.
The Eagles, of course, had to sit through a lengthy lightning delay on opening night back on Thursday, Aug. 29, then played an excellent half of football in knocking off then-12th-ranked Winnsboro, 29-14.
Tatum had to make the trek to Daingerfield this past weekend for another Thursday game, and this time, the opponent, of course, was the Daingerfield Tigers, who lost their first game on the road to Gladewater – but the folks at Dave Campbell’s Texas Football elected to keep the Tigers ranked high. They were number three in the 3A, Division II poll prior to their game against Tatum.
Coach Whitney Keeling’s Tatum Eagles embraced the challenge, and jumped all over the Tigers.
Tatum jumped out to a 20-0 lead, and finished with a 34-14 win.
The Eagles got a 26-yard run from Dameon Pippens, then a 23-yard connection from quarterback Jacorie Bradley to Luke Sigler, and Sigler also had the two-point conversion.
By the end, Jamarri Gibson had scored three touchdowns, all from short yards (1 yard, 4 yards and 3 yards out); Sigler had the first-half touchdown catch from Bradley, and also had six tackles and an interception on defense; and Qwardai Peoples finished with a sack, a forced fumble and nine tackles.
Daingerfield had a 92-yard kickoff return by Trent Boyd to get on the scoreboard, and also added a 1-yard run by Tamar Palmer.
The Eagles’ difficult schedule continues this week: a 124-mile trip (one way) to Newton, for a 7 p.m. kickoff.
Good luck to the Eagles, and congratulations to their team and coaches for winning the ETBlitz.com Team of the Week Award, which we’ll continue to present each Monday throughout the remainder of the 2024-25 school year!