MARKS — The Charleston High School Tigers beat the M.S. Palmer Dragons 42-24 here Friday night.
Charleston improved to 8-2. Palmer fell to 5-5.
This week, in a special Thursday night game in Tiger Stadium, Charleston will host the Independence High School Wildcats in a winner-takes-all showdown for the Region 2-3A championship.
Both Charleston and Independence enter the final game of the regular season with an identical 4-0 region record.
CHS head coach Scott Martin knows what is at stake.
“This is for first place in the region, and, as we have seen, home-field advantage all the way through the playoffs is possible, depending on how the scenario plays out,” he said.
The Tigers have won their region crown for eight consecutive years and hope to make it nine Thursday night, but Martin said Independence will be a worthy foe.
“They’ve got some big linemen up front on defense and really speedy runners on offense,” he noted.
Since it is senior night, when senior football players, band members and cheerleaders will be honored, Martin said he hopes to see a big crowd for the home game.
Kickoff is at 7 p.m.
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In Marks, quarterback Tre Truly got on the board first with an 8-yard TD run at the 6:22 mark in the first quarter. Rickey Sutton ran for the conversion.
The Tigers made it 16-0 when Billy Kimble broke a 65-yard run and Sutton carried for the two-point play with 1:03 in the first period.
Truly scored on a 2-yard carry with 11:56 in the second quarter and then passed to Dequan Street for a 24-yard TD at 7:56. Sutton kicked a PAT after the second score.
Palmer scored back-to-back touchdowns, first on a 34-yard pass and two-point conversion run at 5:13 — set up by an interception — and then on a 4-yard run and conversion pass with 23 seconds left, pulling to within 29-16.
But the Tigers’ Kimble, after a 70-yard A.J. Reed kickoff return, scored on a 14-yard carry with 6 seconds left in the first half. Dee Gary’s PAT kick was good, and CHS led 36-16 at the half.
Truly hit Sutton for a 22-yard TD with 5:43 in the third quarter but was covered up in the end zone for a safety with 11 seconds left in the period.
Palmer’s final points came on a 4-yard run in the fourth.
Truly completed 7-of-11 passes for 117 yards.
DeAntre Prince had one reception for 43 yards, Street one for 24, Sutton one for 22, Antoine Haywood two for 17, Cordarrius Davis one for 11 and Kimble one for no gain.
Kimble led all rushers with 15 carries for 147 yards. Truly had 10 totes for 45 yards and Sutton three for 12 yards.
Charleston’s defense smothered Palmer, recording seven sacks and three interceptions.
Jonathan Jones led the Tigers with 14 total tackles, 11 of which were solo stops.
Bo Curtis had 3½ sacks, Davis notched 1½ sacks, and Fred Hervey and Cody Friday recorded one apiece.
Prince, Reed and Sutton corralled one pick each.
