The Malakoff Tigers have had a football team for 102 years and have yet to win a state title. Their opponent was the Franklin Lions, a school that has won back-to-back state titles and is playing in their 4th straight title game.
Malakoff got off to an early lead. After stopping Franklin on the Lions’ first drive, the Tigers drove down the field on a drive led by QB Mike Jones. Jones capped off the drive with a touchdown pass to Chauncey Hoff to put the Tigers up 7-0.
On Franklin’s second drive, their ground game got to work and looked dominant. They drove inside the 5 yard-line on a time-consuming 12-play drive with several very physical runs. As the Lions were running the ball into the endzone for the tying score, they fumbled the ball into the endzone, and Malakoff recovered the fumble with 0:06 to go in the first quarter.
On the next Malakoff drive, the Tigers drove down the field, with several big runs by Mike Jones. However, the Lion’s defense stood strong once the Tigers got inside the 20 and they forced Malakoff to turn the ball over on downs at the 14-yard line with 7:09 to go in the second quarter. 
Franklin was unable to move the ball on their next drive and had to punt back to Malakoff, but on the first play of the Tigers drive, Jones got hit hard and fumbled the ball. Franklin recovered the ball at the Malakoff 38-yard line, looking to tie the game going into halftime. However, the Franklin offense could not get the ball moving, and the first half ended with Malakoff up, 7-0.
Second Half
The second half started out similar to the first, looking like it would be a defensive battle. However, Malakoff QB Mike Jones connected again with Hogg for a TD to put the Tigers up, 14-0. Franklin responded on the next drive. They put the ball in the hands of Jaden Jackson, and he led the Lions on a scoring drive, putting Franklin on the board with a rushing touchdown. 
After cutting the lead to 7, the Franklin defense stepped up and forced a three and out from the Tigers, and they got the ball back to their offensive with momentum going into the 4th quarter. Both defenses made a stop in the 4th. Franklin moved the ball down inside the Malakoff 15, but failed to convert on a 4th down and turned the ball back to Malakoff with 1:53 to go, still down 14-7.
Franklin still had two timeouts and looked to get the ball back with one more chance to tie the game or take the lead. But, Malakoff put the ball in the hands of Mike Jones, and he ran for a couple of first downs to end the game.
Final Score: Malakoff 14 / Franklin 7
The UIL awarded the Offensive MVP to Mike Jones and the Defensive MVP to Parker Poteete.
CLICK HERE to listen to the Texas HS Football Podcast, with Taylor Arenz
