The Mount Ida Lions made the most of their home field advantage Friday night, outscoring Murfreesboro 42-6 for the conference win.
Mount Ida ran for 267 yards as a team, while Murfreesboro had 125 yards on the ground. The Rattlers were 17-24 for 154 yards, a touchdown and three interceptions. Mount Ida was 3-4 in the air for 62 yards and a score.
Cody Robertson led the Lion ground game with 10 carries for 104 yards and a touchdown, followed by Jesse Lowry with six carries for 48 yards and two touchdowns. Caleb Jones had seven carries for 49 yards and a score, followed by T.J. Wilson with five carries for 37 yards and Cade Helms with six touches for 25 yards. Trevor Fryar had two carries for seven yards and Hayden Bishop had a carry.
T.J. Wilson was 2-3 for 61 yards and a touchdown and Hayden Bishop was 1-1 for a yard. Anthony Spurling and a catch for 49 yards and a score, followed by Jesse Lowry with a catch for 12 yards and Helms had a catch for a yard.
Tyler Allenbrand was 7-7 on PAT attempts.
Murfreesboro’s running game was led by Gavin Gardner with 19 touches for 127 yards. Chris Odom had five carries for 20 yards, followed by Cameron Snowden with four carries for three yards and Tyler Tomlinson with one carry for two yards. Ryan Roberts had eight carries for negative four yards.
Ryan Roberts was 14-21 for 105 yards and J.C. Motley was 3-3 for 49 yards and a touchdown.
Jack Stuard led the Rattlers with two receptions for 44 yards and the lone Rattler score of the night. Tyler Gilbert caught five passes for 40 yards, followed by Gavin Gardner with two receptions for 29 yards. Cameron Snowden had four receptions for 21 yards, Jared Lingo had two catches for 11 yards and Troy stone had a catch for five yards.
Mount Ida opened the game on their own 39 after a two yard return by Hayden Bishop. The Lions kept to the ground and five plays later scored on a 22 yard run by Cody Robertson. Tyler Allenbrand hit the PAT to give the Lions an early seven point lead with 10:32 to go in the first quarter.
Murfreesboro had some success moving the ball in their first possession with Gavin Gardner moving the chains with a trio of runs that accounted for 15 yards of offense. The Rattlers were able to advance the ball to midfield, but a fumble moved them back to the 43 and two plays later they punted to the Lions.
Mount Ida settled to a crawl offensively, moving the ball 68 yards in nine plays. They ended the series with a three yard touchdown run by Jesse Lowry. The PAT was good and the Lions held a 14-0 lead with 4:07 to go in the first quarter.
Gardner, the work horse of the Rattler offense, carried the ball the first five plays of their next drive, moving the ball from the Rattler 28 to the Mount Ida 47. Murfreesboro was able to push their way to the Lion 40 before being pushed back to the 41. A pair of false start calls put them in a fourth and 13 from their own 49 and they turned the ball over after an incompletion.
Mount Ida took to the air and scored on a 49 yard pass from Wilson to Anthony Spurling. Allenbrand hit the PAT to lift the Lion lead to 21 with just a few ticks off the clock in the second quarter.
Caleb Woodfield and Gunner Gilbert combined to end the ensuing Rattler drive with a blocked punt that was recovered on the Murfreesboro nine.
Jesse Lowry carried the ball the distance for a score with 10:38 to go in the half. The PAT lifted the score to 28-0.
Murfreesboro answered with a 10 play drive that pushed them deep into Lion territory, but the Lions were able to stop them on a fourth and one from their own 26 to turn the ball over on downs.
Mount Ida needed four plays to move the ball into Rattler territory and three plays later ended in a touchdown thanks to an 11 yard run by Caleb Jones. The PAT was good and at the 4:52 mark of the first half Mount Ida held on to a 35-0 lead.
The Rattlers didn’t give up, driving to the Mount Ida 19 before Cody Robertson snatched a Rattler pass out of the air on his own seven yard line and raced 93 yards for the score. The PAT was good and the Lions entered the locker room at the half with a 42-0 lead.
Murfreesboro ended the game on a high note when J.C. Motley hit Jack Stuard on the run for a 38 yard touchdown to end the game with the Lions earning a 42-6 win.
The win moves Mount Ida to 5-0 and 2-0 in conference play. They will travel to Springhill Friday to face the Bears. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
Murfreesboro drops to 2-3 and 0-2 in conference play. Murfreesboro will host Gurdon Friday with kickoff scheduled for 7 p.m.
