CLAXTON—After leaving last weeks game on a stretcher against Portal,  the Claxton High School Tiger’s (3-1) Shavez Mincey returned to lead his team to a 34-6 victory over the Toombs County Bulldogs (0-4).
    Mincey rushed for 175 yards on 24 carries with one touchdown while also going 4 of 5 on PAT’s in the Pecan Grove.
    “He’s a big competitive kid and he’s a winner. I think leaving on a stretcher last week he was a little embarrassed by that and he wanted to come out tonight and make a statement. You could tell by his actions that’s what he wanted to do and wanted everyone to know he was healthy and ready to go,” said the Tiger’s head coach Allen Cartwright.
    The Tigers came out with a charge racking up three first downs on their first three plays, capping off a two minute scoring drive with a 10 yard touchdown run by freshman Zachaeus Grant. 
    Grant tried to keep pace with Mincey, punching in a touchdown in each half for the Tigers, but Mincey
continued to move vertically throughout the night and move the chains. 
    On the defensive side of the ball, Claxton smothered the Bulldogs.  Causing two fumbles on the night with DJ Brunson recovering the second in the for a touchdown, the Tigers played shutout defense up until the final seconds of the game.
    “Our defense has played well all year…I think if we continue to play good solid defense like we have been its really going to help us once we get into region play,” said Cartwright.
    Cartwright was pleased with his team’s performance on both sides of the ball citing good defensive play and solid offense as the key to the team’s success.
    “I thought we came out and took care of business.  We played well, but there are still some areas we need to work. We are real pleased to come out here and get a win against a quality AA team like Toombs,” said Cartwright
    As for the Bulldogs, their struggles continued.  Although the team showed signs of life early, costly penalties and turnovers thwarted any drive Toombs put together early in the game. Head coach Shane Williamson said the game was a sign of the Bulldogs youth.
    “We’re just going to have to keep working and try to get better. We’re just so young. We have four starters out that are out due to injury and we lost another one tonight…We’re just going through a drought and we just have to keep preparing ourselves each week and hope we come out of this thing,” said Williamson.
    The most impressive drive of the night for the Bulldogs came in the closing seconds of the night.  Lead by a combination of freshmen Jamar Smith and Marion Dingle, Toombs marched on a 54 yard drive to break the shutout for Claxton. 
    The Tigers are off next week and Toombs will meet up with McIntosh County Academy in The Pit on Friday.