Middleton Tigers roar past RCA

A packed house came out to support and watch what was a much different Middleton High School (MHS) team come to play football in their season opener at home against Rossville Christian Academy (RCA).
The 28-12 win over RCA for Middleton ended a 13 game losing streak that went back to the end of the 2013 season when they defeated RCA. The Tigers went 0-10 in 2014 in a disappointing season for the team, but the team let the crowd know Friday this is a different team.
“Going 0-10 last year, for me, was personal. The team was disappointed and we didn’t want that to happen again,” MHS Coach Craig Harris said. “I think the mindset since the spring has been different with this team. We talked about being focused and doing the little things better. We have 13 seniors and most have been there since the seventh grade. A lot of them have been starters for three years and when you’re playing 14 year olds against 18 year olds you’re going to struggle. This year we have the seniors.”
Although Middleton went into halftime with an 8-0 lead, it was not an ideal half for the Tigers.
“We had nine penalties in the first half. That hurt us,” Harris said. “We felt we should have been up by at least two touchdowns at halftime.”
In the first quarter, Keon Pipkin connected with Trae Anderson for a 77 yard touchdown. Pipkin ran the two point conversion in to put the score 8-0.
“It was nip and tuck for the first quarter and all week long I’ve been telling them football players can handle adversity,” Harris said. “It was the first game under the bright lights and I think a little bit of jitters were there but we played better as it went on.”
After penalties and negative rushing yards backing Middleton up to punt out of their own end zone in the second quarter, RCA started their drive at Middleton’s 26 yard line but were held to a field goal attempt, which went wide right with 8:21 in the first half.

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