After having to reschedule the game due to bad weather, the Tigers took on the Tyler Lee Red Raiders Saturday and lost 37-38. The Tigers played a hard game, keeping the lead for most of it, but ended up on the losing side.

In the first quarter, both defenses held their own by forcing multiple punts. Eventually, the Raiders got within field goal range and put 3 points on the board. Aside from the Raider’s field goal, both teams were deadlocked for the first quarter.

Going into the second quarter, things started to get exciting. Senior quarterback Cody Hunter threw a touchdown pass to junior running back Javon Thomas to put the Tigers on the board. Later on, the Raiders forced a fumble on Hunter and capitalized to get a touchdown. After which, senior kicker Alex Frederick sent a 27-yard field goal through the post to tie the score. Nearing the end of the quarter, the Tigers snuck in another touchdown on a fake field goal with senior quarterback Clete Norton throwing the ball to senior wide receiver Taylor Jackson.

“Big improvement since the last game, we put up big points in the first half,” Hunter said. “We need to work on executing plays and trying to be mistake free.”

Sophomore defensive back Jacorien Walker started of the third quarter with an interception on the Raiders. This interception made junior wide receiver Jarion Anderson’s receiving touchdown possible. The Raiders responded to this with a touchdown of their own.

“We did real good and just played hard,” Anderson said. “We did better than the last two games. It was a real good game, we worked well as a team, but we just couldn’t get the win.”

The fourth quarter was nail-biting down to the end. Senior receiver/defensive back Kevin Harris caught a touchdown pass to start off the quarter. The next play, the Raiders ran back the kick off for a touchdown.

The Tiger offense was shut down quickly on the next drive with the Raiders catching an interception and running it back for another touchdown. The Tigers eventually got another touchdown of their own when Hunter ran the ball in. The extra point attempt for this touchdown was blocked, by an aggressive Raider special team unit.

The Raiders were able to get one more touchdown down and then tried to run out the clock. With the Tigers being down by 1 point and seconds on the clock, the Raiders punted to the Tigers. Texas High blocked the punt, and senior defensive lineman Demarquan Bailey ran it for about 10 yards before being tackled on the 20 yard line.

“You can’t win them all, we have to overcome,” senior linebacker Anthony Rhone said. “We may have lost the game, but we played together like a team. We played a lot better than we did against Arkansas and LE, we are just looking forward to the season to come.”

Ben Gladney and DJ Mack contributed to this report.