On Tuesday, October 20, Ripley Middle School traveled to Brighton to compete in the West TN Athletic Conference football finals. Ripley Middle defeated the Brighton Cardinals 22-14 in an overtime thriller.
Ripley trailed after the 1st quarter and at halftime 14-0. The rest of the way, the Tigers fought hard to get back in the game as their defense shut down the Cardinals for the final 3 quarters. In the 2nd half, RMS cut the score to 14-6 before finally scoring late in the 4th quarter and adding a 2-point conversion to tie the game at 14-14. Ripley's defense once again made another big stop with 1:00 remaining in the contest. The Tigers drove down the field and came up 1 yard short on the last play of regulation to win the game.
In overtime, Ripley scored on its first play and then added the 2 point conversion to make the score 22-14. During Brighton's final possession, the Tigers stopped the Cardinals 3 consecutive times to force a 4th down play. Once again, Ripley's defense came up huge on 4th and goal from the 3 by getting another big tackle to stop Brighton and end the game.
The Tigers showed great heart by not giving up on the game when they trailed early. We are all very proud of the Tigers for their effort and for brining the West TN Football Championship back to Ripley. GO TIGERS!!!