The Pace football team finds itself in perfect position to possibly claim a District 1-6A title in a couple weeks.
After a strong 42-7 win over district rival Tate on Friday at Pace Patriot Stadium, the Patriots showed their offensive force against the Aggies. While Pace has been primarily a run-heavy team this season – and Friday was no exception – a key turning point came when Ben Tyner connected with Alijah Lavender for a 17-yard passing touchdown.
Lavender was guarded in man-coverage by an Aggie defender pretty tightly, but Tyner placed the pass perfectly over Lavender’s shoulder, who hardly turned around and still caught the ball one-handed in the end zone to give Pace a 21-0 advantage midway through the second quarter.
Tate nearly responded on the next drive, but a long incomplete pass forced a fourth-down from the Aggie 15-yard line. After a short punt, Pace running back Makael Williams scored on a 44-yard run on the first play of the drive to put the Patriots up 28-0 with 5:54 remaining in the half.
“We completed some big passes early on, and quit throwing after that. We had a heck of a catch by Alijah down in the corner. Just an unbelievable catch,” Pace head coach Kent Smith said. “(The run game’s) always big for us.”
Pace initially started the game “really banged up,” Smith added. Starting quarterback Ben Tyner was on the sideline during the first drive of the game for the Patriots. Backup Joey Golino took charge of the offense, including a 19-yard pass to Makael Williams that set the Patriots up within 20 yards of the endzone.
After a Tagg Strickenberger 2-yard run, Golino had back-to-back runs of 7 yards and 9 yards to open the scoring with 7:11 left in the first quarter. Following an interception from the Pace defense on the ensuing Tate drive, Tyner was back in at quarterback, connecting with Joeseph Skipworth for a 16-yard pass before punching in a 1-yard run up the middle of the field.
“Joey stepped in and did a good job, drove us down the first drive and scored,” Smith said. “I had full in faith in him.”
From there, it was all Pace.
Tate’s Brodi White picked off Tyner after Pace’s fourth touchdown, putting the Aggies in prime position to score starting on the Patriots’ 25-yard line. But four plays later, Pace’s Jordan Taylor recorded an interception when Tate was on the Pace 13.
The Patriots drained the rest of the clock before halftime. Tate scored on its third-quarter drive that took up nearly the entire stanza, finally scoring with 35.6 seconds left in the frame after a 4-yard pass from Taite Davis to Davion Thompson.
“We weren’t able to capitalize on different things,” Tate head coach Rhett Summerford said. “My hat’s off to our players because we played hard in the second half when we could’ve quit. I’m not happy about losing, but I’m happy I saw that we don’t have quit in us.”
Tate (5-2), which has now fallen in back-to-back games – both district contests – after starting the year on a five-game win streak, hosts Booker T. Washington on Friday.
Pace (6-1) finds itself with a short week as the Patriots host Pine Forest on Thursday.
“Our next district game’s against an opponent we’ve had a hard time winning. We’re not going to worry about them right now,” Smith said, referring to Navarre – a team the Patriots haven’t beaten since 2011. “We’re going to celebrate and then get ready for a short week with Pine Forest.”
