TATUM DEALS WEST RUSK A LOSS | Bradley, Eagles’ ground game too much, but Dotson, Reasoner shine in defeat; district play next week for both

TATUM – Tatum flexed its muscles and showed how strong its running game can be in this final non-district game against rival West Rusk at Eagle Stadium on Friday night.

Jamarri Gipson scored three touchdowns, giving him 10 on the season, and Tatum quarterback Jacorie Bradley threw three touchdowns, and the defense got in on the act as well, creating turnovers and making fourth-down stops as the Eagles got back on track with a 54-21 win over West Rusk.

Both teams begin district play next Friday. Tatum (3-1) will host Sabine; West Rusk (1-3) will go to Elkhart.

Tatum’s first possession would ultimately end in points, although the Eagles had to recover their own fumble to get to that point. Bradley did have a pass to Luke Sigler on the drive, but for the most part, it was a steady ground-and-pound attack from Gipson, Dameon Pippins and Cayden Tatum. At one point, West Rusk’s Syncere Cleaver stuffed Gipson for a loss with Dof 2, but the Eagles got it right back on a 6-yard run by Pippens, and then Cayden Tatum for 8. Even Bradley got in on the act, a carry down to the West Rusk 12.

The ball came out on the next play, but the Eagles would recover at the Raiders’ 4-yard-line, and then Gipson would punch it in on a 4-yard run with 5:13 left in the quarter, with Dekarlo Garza hitting the extra point to give the Eagles a 7-0 lead.

Kaynan Lacy would set West Rusk up with decent field position on a kick return to the Raiders’ 34, and four different players – Daylan Williams, quarterback Judson Dotson, Cole Jackson and Hunter McCandless – would get carries early in the drive.

Tatum’s Taylor Rutherford wrecked one of the plays, getting in and tackling Jackson for no gain, but the Raiders managed to get to midfield before disaster struck: a fumble, on a pass play at Tatum’s 32 – and the Eagles recovered.

Bradley and the offense went to work immediately. He hit Cayden Tatum on a long pass play, all the way to the West Rusk 26-yard-line, for 44 yards, and the Eagles would keep it on the ground from there, runs by Gipson, Bradley to the 11, Qwardai Peoples and then Gipson again, taking it in from the 2-yard-line, his second score of the night, with 11:26 left in the half. Bradley and Tatum connected for a two-point conversion to put the Eagles up 15-0.

After Tatum forced a quick West Rusk possession, they had an even-quicker score, a 67-yard run by Sigler, and nobody would catch him, with 8:59 left in the half. The point after was missed, but Tatum had upped its lead to three touchdowns (21-0).

West Rusk’s next possession would result in a turnover on downs – an incomplete pass would give the Eagles the ball back at their own 42 to begin their next drive.

Unfortunately for West Rusk, Tatum would score in just four plays.

On that fourth play, Gipson took the handoff from Bradley and scored from 28 yards out, and this time, the extra point was good, a 28-0 advantage for Tatum with 3:52 left in the second quarter.

This time, the Raiders would answer, and quickly.

Dotson found Jase Reasoner for a 79-yard scoring pass, and get the Raiders back in the game. The extra point was good with 2:39 left (28-7), and Tatum might have had thoughts of the previous week, when West Rusk trailed Gladewater, 19-0, and almost came all the way back to get the win.

The next few minutes had a flurry of activity. On Tatum’s next possession, Sigler lost the ball to West Rusk, with the Raiders recovering at their own 34, and then Sigler himself took the ball right back, an interception at West Rusk’s 44.

Cayden Tatum is a dangerous player, and he proved it on the reception from Bradley two plays after the interception, a 35-yard touchdown catch. The Eagles added the extra point, and went into halftime with a 35-7 lead.

Lacy got the Raiders right back into the game with an 81-yard kick return for a score to open the second half (35-14), but that Tatum ground game was just too much. Bradley and Tatum would hook up yet again to complete the drive with a 10-yard touchdown pass, and the Eagles were back up by four TDs again, 42-14, with just over 10 minutes left in the third quarter.

West Rusk would score one more time, a 46-yard touchdown pass from Dotson to Reasoner, with the extra point true at the 7:41 mark of the third quarter (42-21).

And after back-to-back punts, Tatum would add two more touchdowns: a 26-yard score by Gipson where the Raiders blocked the point after (with 2:33 left in the third), and a 1-yard run by Aiden Courtney, the final score of the game.

As mentioned, West Rusk opens district play next Friday night at 7:30 p.m. at Elkhart (1-3), who dropped a 21-8 loss to Corrigan-Camden.

Tatum will host Sabine (2-2) on Friday at 7 p.m. Sabine has lost back-to-back games to New Diana and Arp after starting 2-0.