It was tough sledding for the local teams last Friday. Alba-Golden, Mineola and Quitman each played teams either at the top or near the top of their respective districts. Local teams were huge underdogs, as they each sought their first district win.

Alba-Golden fell at Honey Grove 57-12, Mineola was beaten at home by Commerce 64-12, and Quitman was defeated in Lone Oak 41-19. For the Panthers of Alba-Golden and the Yellowjackets of Mineola, one of the truisms of football came to pass: generally, the bigger, faster, stronger team wins. It is, after all, a physical game.   

For Alba-Golden and Mineola, the run of the two games had a similar sequence. 

At the end of the first quarter of play, the Commerce Tigers led Mineola, 7-0. Mineola had forced a turnover on downs and a punt in the Tigers’ first two possessions, then gave up a score after a long punt return. 

After one quarter of play in Honey Grove, the score stood 16-6 in favor of the Warriors. Alba-Golden had given up two scores, but they had also forced a fumble and a turnover on downs. 

The Panthers had found the end zone on their opening possession going 74 yards on four plays. Quarterback Sam Olson found wide-out Cooper Christian for a 50-yard scoring strike. 

With 12 minutes of clock time expired in each contest, they were yet competitive games. That changed quickly in each case.

On the first play of the second quarter, Honey Grove intercepted a deep pass down their left sideline. Three plays later they found the end zone. An on-side kick recovery followed, and in a flash the Warriors had built a 30-6 lead with another score.  

By halftime, Honey Grove had extended the lead to 44-6.

Three big plays turned the game at Meredith Memorial Stadium in the Mineola vs. Commerce matchup. The first came after Mineola had marched 63 yards to make the score 14-6. Aiden Shepherd carried the ball around the right side from a full-house backfield and scored from 28-yards out. 

The Tigers took the ensuing kick-off straight up the south sideline for a touchdown. After having gone up by three scores, Commerce returned an interception 60 yards for their fourth score of the quarter. As if to ensure the game was secure, the Tigers scored on the last play of the half and took a 42-6 lead into the break.

The clocks ran quickly in the second half of each game. As a matter of pride, the Panthers and Yellowjackets scored in the second half of their games. For Alba-Golden, Olson scored on a quarterback draw after having connected with Christian on yet another beautiful pass completion. 

Mineola took advantage of an outstanding kick-off return by Braelyn Geremonte midway through the third quarter. Kipton Neighbors carried the ball into the end zone two plays later around the left end from 20 yards out.

Commerce and Honey Grove left no doubt that they had talented teams this year, and each should make a strong post-season run.