Oxford erupts
- Updated: October 26, 2018
Smith-Lindsey goes over 1,000 yards rushing for third straight year as Yellow Jackets rout Gardendale to get region’s 3 seed
By East Alabama Sports Today
GARDENDALE – Tyetus Smith-Lindsey went over 1,000-yard rushing for the third straight season and Oxford’s erupted with one of its most explosive games of the season to beat Gardendale 61-21 Friday and clinch third place in Class 6A Region 7.
A week ago after the Jackets lost to Clay-Chalkville, Smith-Lindsey said “we have got to get our offense a lot better if we are going to help our team win the state.”
They were against the Rockets (5-4) in rainy, windy Driver Stadium. They had 473 yards rushing and 577 yards total in scoring 60 points for the second time this season.
Smith-Lindsey had a first half for the ages as he scored two touchdowns, rushed for 197 yards on 14 carries and ripped off runs of 23, 35, 16, 52 and 29 yards. He needed only 97 yards to go over 1,000-yard barrier for the season and he took care of that on his 52-yard run late in the first quarter.
He finished with 199 yards and three touchdowns on 17 carries.
The Yellow Jackets (7-2) look to be visiting Hazel Green in the first round of the playoffs in two weeks. Gardendale (5-4), the fourth seed, will be at Fort Payne.
After falling behind quickly 7-0, the Oxford offense scored on all five first-half possessions. They scored on their first four possession of the second half to open a 61-7 lead.
The Jackets were hitting on all cylinders Donovan Carlisle scored on a 3-yard run, Trey Higgins scored on a 9-yard run and Higgins fired a 5-yard touchdown pass to Zay Britt.
Carlisle tried to go over the top to get in the end zone on his touchdown. He was stopped, but was never on the ground, so he spilled off the pile and sprinted to the corner of the end zone for the score. He finished with 84 yards.
The Rockets scored two touchdowns in the last five minutes against the Oxford reserves.
Oxford 61, Gardendale 21
Team stats Oxf Gar
First downs 20 9
Rushes-yds 46-473 23-131
Passes 6-10-0 12-16-0
Passing yds 104 95
Fumbles lost 1 0
Punts-avg 0-0 6-25.0
Penalties-yds 4-40 4-40
Scoring summary
Oxford 21 13 20 7 – 61
Gardendale 7 0 0 14 – 21
G – Jacob Wright 3 run (Landon Erbrick kick), 10:30 1Q
O –¬ Tyetus Smith-Lindsey 35 run (Misael Reyes kick), 8:10 1Q
O – Tyetus Smith-Lindsey 29 run (Misael Reyes kick), 4:16 1Q
O – Jonovan Carlisle 3 run (Misael Reyes kick), 0:54 1Q
O – Trey Higgins 9 run (kick failed), 5:50 2Q
O ¬– Zay Britt 5 pass from Trey Higgins (Misael Reyes kick), 1:26 2Q
O – Trey Higgins 11 run (Misael Reyes kick), 10:43 3Q
O – Tyetus Smith-Lindsey 1 run (kick fails), 7:26 3Q
O – Devion Ball 5 run (Misael Reyes kick), 1:16 3Q
O – Zay Britt 81 run (Misael Reyes kick), 8:22 4Q
G – Latravious Sanders 41 run (Landon Erbrick kick), 5:15 4Q
G – Latravious Sanders 20 run (Landon Erbrick kick), 2:33 4Q
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