Tallassee wins shootout, prep for playoffs By Michael Butler, 1300 WTLS & 106.5 FM It was a back-and-forth affair, but Tallassee prevailed on homecoming with a 41-35 win over Carroll of Ozark on Friday. The THS Class of 2002 returned on the cool night at J. E. "Hot" O'Brien Stadium to see senior Belle Haynes crowned queen and the Tigers' regular season finale. The two teams each scored touchdown apiece in the first three quarters, then combined for 34 fourth-quarter points with Tallassee running out the clock in the final seconds. "That's a good football team over there," Tallassee head coach Mike Battles said of the opposition. "We knew we were going to have to play well. You're always scared after you come off of big, emotional victory and you've got homecoming to add to it." In last week's 39-28 win over Clay Central, the Tigers offense put up 523 yards. They had 425 against Carroll and were 9-of-12 on third-down conversions. Tyler Ellis threw for 153 on 10 of 19 attempts. Jalyn Daniels ran for 177 yards on 16 carries with four touchdowns. Daniels added 128 kick return yards.
Daniels set up the Tigers first score of the second half on a kickoff return to Carroll's 25-yard line. Two plays later, he was in the endzone. Daniels scoring runs were of 19, 34, 3 and 21 yards. Ellis added an 11-yard running score. Zavion Carr had a 4-yard touchdown run and a two-point conversion. After Carr's score and conversion Tallassee led 41-28 with 1:57 left, but the Eagles scored on their next play from scrimmage - a 67-yard touchdown pass from Keyshawn Cole to Jordan Killings. Carr finished things off with a five-yard run on third and one.
"I'm proud of them," said Battles. "That's one that we had to fight through. We had to make some plays. They played with a lot of heart, and our kids played with a lot of heart. Luckily for that 2002 class, we got them a victory." Tallassee (7-2) improves to 10-0 all-time vs. Carroll (4-6). The win was the Tigers' sixth straight - the longest win streak since the 2017 season. Although Tallassee finished in a three-way tie for the region title, the tiebreaker placed them as the No. 3 seed. A first-round road trip to Greenville will open the post-season on Friday. Kickoff will be 7 p.m. 1300 WTLS/106.5 FM will have live coverage on the radio as well as Spectrum Channel 340 and the TuneIn app. Airtime is 6 p.m. NOTE: Live video streaming is not permitted in the playoffs, so there will be no feed via Tallassee Times TV on YouTube. *View Photos by Kyle Thornton
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