Big Play Day
- Updated: August 20, 2022
Munford efficient against a Childersburg team that ran almost twice as many plays, wins opener
By Brant Locklier
For East Alabama Sports Today
CHILDERSBURG – Before the game, if you told Childersburg coach Johnny Johnson that his Tigers would run 62 plays and Munford only 28 plays, he probably would have thought his team would have a good chance at winning the game.
But the Lions did not many plays to score as they took a dominating 28-14 win on the road Friday night.
CHILDERSBURG 14
Long runs of 56, 37, 38 and 85 yards gave the Lions touchdowns and second-half defensive adjustments shut down the Tigers enough to enable Munford to open the season with a win for the third year in a row.
“We knew coming in what they did on offense was going to limit our possessions in the game, so we knew we had to be efficient on offense,” Munford coach Michael Easley said. “Our kids played really hard.
“We had some big plays on offense and combine that with how much clock they chewed up, there just weren’t many snaps for us. We’re just really pleased with how our guys played and the grit they showed tonight.”
Childersburg opened the game with an 8-minute drive – all running plays – that ended at the Lions 26 when the Tigers failed on fourth down.
Sylvester Smith, a Tennessee signee as a defensive back, was moved to quarterback by Easley this year and it paid dividends immediately. Smith gained 16 yards on his first carry and one play later running back Amari Edmondson bolted 58 yards to give the Lions a 7-0 lead.
Back came the Tigers with another long drive that ate the rest of the clock in the first quarter. This time they scored on a 1-yard plunge by Phillip Tilley.
The Lions went three and out and this led to another long drive by the Tigers. For the third straight drive the Tigers did not attempt a pass and drove it down inside the Lions 10. But the Munford defense and the offense took over the ball with under two minutes left in the half.
Smith went 70 yards and after a penalty went 26 more yards to score with just 15 seconds left in the half to give Munford a 14-7 halftime lead. It was a half in which Childersburg ran 40 plays, all on the ground, and Munford ran only 10 plays.
Riley Brown opened the second half by returning the kick-off 85 yards for the Lions and the score was 21-7.
“That was the play that broke the game open for us,” Easley said.
Munford made some defensive adjustments at halftime and began to shut down the Childersburg running game. The Tigers gained 204 yards on 40 attempts in the first half and gained only 9 yards on 17 attempts in the second.
Smith rolled into the end-zone later in the third quarter on a 37-yard run on a 3-play drive to give Munford a 28-7 lead. Smith ended the game with 158 yards on eight carries, including a kneel-down 3 yard-loss at game’s end. Edmundson carried 7 times for 108 yards.
| MUNFORD (28) | CHILDERSBURG (14) | |
| 9 | 1st Downs | 15 |
| 23-341 | Rushing-Yards | 57-213 |
| 1-5-0 | Passes | 3-5-0 |
| 7 | Passing Yards | 41 |
| 2-22.0 | Punts-Avg. | 1-38.0 |
| 3-35 | Penalties-Yds. | 10-115 |
| Munford (1-0) | 7 | 7 | 14 | 0 — | 28 |
| Childersburg (0-1) | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 — | 14 |
M – Amari Edmundson 58 run (Dakota Frank kick), 4:05 1Q
C – Philip Tilley 1 run (Daniel Warlick kick), 9:24 2Q
M – Sylvester Smith 26 run (Dakota Frank kick), 0:36 2Q
M – Riley Brown 85 run (Dakota Frank kick), 11:45 3Q
M – Sylvester Smith 37 run (Dakota Frank kick), 6:49 3Q
C – Philip Tilley 1 run (Daniel Warlick kick), 4:34 4Q
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