Published Wednesday, November 04, 2009

Titans earn 14-6 win over Falcons

The Newnan Times-Herald

Deemed the "Super Bowl," a pair of football rivals took the field on Tuesday night in Coweta County for a hard-fought game that had two sets of fans on their feet.

It's not the one you might be thinking off.

But while it wasn't East Coweta-Newnan, Tuesday's 11-12 year-old "Super Bowl" between the Coweta Recreation Department's Titans and Falcons teams provided as much an intense atmosphere at the department's athletic complex off Hospital Road.

Both teams traded scores on opposite ends of halftime before Titans running back Alex Branch shed a defender in the backfield and rambled 12 yards for a go-ahead touchdown in a 14-6 win over the Falcons.

Branch scored both Titans touchdowns in the win, including one that provided a 6-0 halftime lead before the Falcons fought back to tie it.

The Titans, coached by Rob Ragan, put together a drive inside the Falcons 10-yard line to open the third quarter, getting a pair of first downs on runs by Matthew Henson, before an inside handoff to Branch set up a first-and-goal opportunity.

But the Falcons, coached by Grady Hill, forced a fumble that was recovered by Donovan Benson, and quarterback Makenzie Martin helped lead the offense on a seven-play scoring drive to tie the game.

Just when the drive seemed to stall on a holding penalty just inside the Titans' 35-yard line, Falcons running back Jadarius Ingram took a toss to the right, hurdled over a would-be tackler and sprinted down the sidelines for a 44-yard touchdown with 1:50 remaining in the third quarter, tying the game at 6-6.

The Titans, though, went back on an eight-play march down the field that ate up more than four minutes. Branch picked up a key first down at the Falcons 37-yard line on third-and-five, moving the pile to keep the drive alive. Ingram then made a touchdown-saving tackle on Branch's next carry that set up a first-down at the 14.

But one snap later, Branch took a handoff and slipped away from a penetrating tackler in the backfield, finding a hole for a 12-yard touchdown. Graden Treadwell carried in the 2-point conversion on an inside handoff to make it 14-6 with 5:35 to play.

From there, the Titans defense held their ground despite a short kickoff. Dylan Moore's stop of Ingram in the backfield provided a 10-yard loss and the Falcons had trouble with a pair of snaps before turning the ball over on downs with just over a minute to play.

11-12 YEAR OLD DIVISION

Tuesday's Score

Super Bowl at Hospital Road

Titans 14, Falcons 6

9-10 YEAR OLD DIVISION

STANDINGS

NORTH

Division Non-Conf

W-L W-L

Dolphins 2-0 1-0

Chargers 2-1 0-0

Cowboys 1-1 1-0

Vikings 1-2 0-0

Steelers 0-2 1-0

SOUTH

Division Non-Conf

Patriots 3-0 0-0

Falcons 1-1 0-1

Titans 1-1 0-1

Colts 1-2 0-0

Seahawks 0-2 0-1

Saturday's Scores

Vikings 26, Steelers 25

Colts 14, Seahawks 6

Dolphins 14, Chargers 0

Patriots 39, Falcons 29

Cowboys 22, Titans 6

7-8 YEAR OLD DIVISION

Team W-L

Buccaneers 2-0

Packers 1-0

Panthers 1-1

Bears 1-1

Cowboys 0-1

Lions 0-2

Saturday's Scores

Panthers 26, Bears 18

Buccaneers 25, Cowboys 8

Packers 32, Lions 12