Hico — Italy’s initial drive stalls at their 48-yard line and Cole Hopkins punts it over to Hico. Hico can only gain 4 yards after a big hit from linebacker Ryheem Walker that forces the Tigers to punt from their own 24-yard line. In his first start at the reins, Marvin Cox leads Italy to the 34-yard line but a sack on 4th and 9 gives the ball back to Hico at the Tiger 42-yard line with 6:16 to play in the quarter.

Hico gains nine with Eric Carson making the stop. After a 1st down run to the Gladiator forty-five, Justin Wood picks off a Tiger pass attempt to return offensive control to Italy. A pass interference call charged to Hico and runs by Cox and Walker move the ball to the Tiger forty-eight. Cox drops back and throws downfield to Hopkins who makes the catch at the Tiger 14-yard line.

A miscue in Italy’s backfield causes a fumble in the backfield and the Tigers scoop it and sprint 86-yards for a defensive touchdown. The point-after kick is true and Hico leads 7-0 with 3:05 to go in the first.

Italy tries to respond but further miscues cause the Gladiators to lose ground all the way back to their own 9-yard line. Hopkins Punts again but the short kick is downed by Kyle Fortenberry at Italy’s 28-yard line with :33 seconds left. Wood and and Cox make the tackle after Hico gains 6 yards to the twenty-two. Walker and Cox make the stop at the nineteen to end the quarter with the Tigers stalking Italy’s end zone.

Hico runs to the fifteen and earns a 1st down before Cox can make the stop. Zain Byers shoots in from his left tackle position and collides with Hico’s fullback…and the fullback lost, struggling to get to his feet. Byers then makes a tackle inside to bring up 3rd and 8 for the Tigers who call a timeout.

Shad Newman and Byers combine for the tackle to set up a 4th down. The Tigers go for it but the pass attempt into the end zone falls incomplete, Gladiators’ ball! Unfortunately, Italy can only muster a couple of yards and Hopkins punts from the twenty-one. Hico takes over at Italy’s 4-yard line, 8:20 remaining in the first half.

Reid Jacinto makes the tackle from his inside linebacker position for no gain. Trevon Robertson and Cox combine to halt the Tigers’ progress at the line-of-scrimmage. Italy holds on both 2nd down and 4th down to force a Hico punt that is downed at the Gladiator 21-yard line at the 6:42 mark.

Italy hits a big run up the middle but the ball is punched loose and recovered at the Italy 45-yard line. Italy holds but the 4th down punt by Hico is downed at the Gladiator 1-yard line with 4:37 to play. Walker carries twice to reach the 16-yard line and then gets the call again running behind Mayberry and Fortenberry to the 20-yard line and a 3rd and 3. Cox leaps his way to the twenty-five for the 1st down. An Incomplete pass and a false start is erased when Walker travels to the Hico 47-yard line for another Italy first down.

Robertson hauls in a 7 yard pass from Cox to the forty. Cox finds Robertson again for 3 more yards just shy of the sticks with 2:24 left in the half. Walker runs for the first on the next play to the thirty-five, 1:37 to play. Cox runs for a 1st down before going out-of-bounds at the 25-yard line. After an incomplete pass intended for Robertson, Cox gains 6 yards to the nineteen. Hopkins pulls in a pass from Cox to set up 4th and inches at the sixteen, :40 seconds left. Walker runs to the nine and then gets the handoff again and maneuvers in for a 9-yard touchdown run. Cox sprints in for the two-point conversion and Italy grabs the lead 8-7, silencing the Tiger faithful.

After the Roldan kickoff, Carson upends a Tiger runner to end the first half.

At halftime, the Gladiator Regiment Marching Band and Color Guard, under the direction of Jesus Perez, performs for the Hico fans and executes flawlessly adorning their full band costumes.

Both teams went scoreless in the third-quarter but Hico dominated the fourth-quarter by adding 20-points in the final 12 minutes. The final score was the Tigers 27-8 over the Gladiators.

In his first start for Italy, Cox went 12-of-32 for 109 passing yards but just 4 rushing yards on 13 carries. Walker ran for 83 yards on 19 carries while Cole Hopkins caught 4 passes for 62-yards and Trevon Robertson caught 5 passes for 27-yards to lead the receivers. Also getting his first start on varsity was sophomore center Kyle Fortenberry who was promoted from the JV squad and proved he can get the job done for head coach Hank Hollywood.

Go Italy.