MTZ football defeats Collinsville on the road

Zac Girard carries the football in a 28-27 loss against Effingham at home on October 1.

By Blake Faith
Staff Writer

The Mt. Zion Braves defeated undefeated and No. 10 ranked 7A Collinsville on Friday night 36-21. Tyson Evans led the Braves with 153 passing yards, a passing touchdown and two rushing touchdowns.

The Braves defense gave up a score early when Collinsville’s Jerry Richardson rushed for a 64-yard touchdown to start a 7-0 lead. The Braves countered with nine straight points behind a 35-yard field goal by Brayden Traxler and an Evans 47-yard touchdown pass to Grant McAtee.

Collinsville scored two unanswered touchdowns behind a Richardson 93-yard kickoff return touchdown and a Kolby Anderson 44-yard rushing touchdown to get a 21-9 lead.

In the third quarter, the Braves scored three unanswered touchdowns. Down 21-9, the Braves fought their way back when Evans ran in for a three-yard touchdown and the Braves completed the two-point conversion to narrow the lead 21-17.

Later in the third quarter, the Braves scored on another Evans three-yard rushing touchdown to give the Braves a 24-21 lead. On the next Collinsville possession, Ethan Hamrick intercepted the ball and ran it back for a touchdown to give the Braves a 30-21 lead. Christian Keyhea scored the final touchdown of the game with a 75-yard rushing touchdown to give the Braves a 36-21 win.

“That was a good win for our team,” Head coach Patrick Etherton said. They were ranked #10 in 7A and it was their homecoming, so it was a great atmosphere to play in. We played really well at times and made some plays when we needed to throughout the game. They had a very talented group of players. We still need to clean up some things from the game Friday,but our kids are excited to get back home and play in front of a huge crowd.”

The Braves improve to 5-2 on the season. Their next game is this Friday at 7 p.m. against Charleston.