The Dyer County Choctaw Varsity Football team (2-4) played a district home game against the Munford Cougars (6-0) on Friday, September 23, 2022. 

The Munford Cougars started off the game with a kickoff from the 40-yard line. Bralyn Taylor, senior #5, received the ball at the 12-yard line and ran it for 22 yards. On the second down, Taylor ran the ball from the 39-yard line to the 44-yard line, earning a first down. On third down, Landon Daniels, freshman #7, attempted a 10-yard pass to Mason Patterson, senior #2, but it was ruled incomplete. Brayden Rouse, senior #99, punted the ball for the fourth down. 

On defense, Darius Hayward, sophomore #15, tackled #1 from Munford before he could acquire a first down. Grants Powers, sophomore #44, then stopped their next attempt, earning Munford their third down. On the third down, Munford started at the 26-yard line and ran the ball until #1 was tackled and forced out of bounds around the 50-yard line by Everett Kuykendall, sophomore #21. Munford started their second down at the 46-yard line and attempted to pass the ball to #11 at the 37-yard line. Hayward tackled #11, preventing the catch. Hayward went on to stop their third attempt at a first down. At the start of the fourth down, the Choctaws were penalized with a false start, causing a 5-yard penalty and an automatic first down for the Cougars. Kuykendall successfully stopped their first attempt at a touchdown, tackling #1 at the 33-yard line. Andres Moncada, junior #33, and Kuykendall stopped their next attempt. #2 from the Munford Cougars then ran 10-yards for another first down. The Cougars then threw an incomplete pass, earning them a second down. Kemarean Parker, senior #9, allowed #1 a one-yard gain before tackling him with assistance from Moreno, Powers, and Gauldin. Another incomplete pass earned them their fourth down, causing them to punt the ball for a field goal, making the score 0-3. 

The Choctaws took on offense once again with three minutes left in the first quarter. Taylor ran the ball for twelve yards, earning another first down for the Choctaws. On the fourth down, Taylor ran the ball for 38-yards, scoring the first touchdown of the game. Jacob Hampton, senior #40, then scored an extra point field goal from the 10-yard line, making the score 7-3. 

     The Choctaws kicked off the second quarter with the Cougars receiving it at the 31-yard line. Tyler Rogers, senior #19, and Nolan Banga, junior #4, worked together to bring down #2 from Munford before he could make a first down. On the second down, LaDerrick Moore, senior #6, successfully broke through Munford’s offense and took down the quarterback before they could gain on the play. Gauldin and Moreno stopped #11 from Munford from reaching a first down after catching an 8-yard pass. After a few plays, Munford received their first touchdown after a 15-yard run. They attempted a two-point conversion, but it was intercepted by Kemarean Parker, senior #9. 

With eight minutes left in the second quarter, the Munford Cougars kicked off for the second time. Mason Patterson, senior #2, received the ball at the 29-yard line. On the third down, Daniels threw a pass to Gauldin, which he ran to score a 73-yard touchdown pass. Hampton attempted a field goal, but it was blocked by the Cougars, making the score 13-9. 

The Cougars took on offense again and ran 18 yards on the first down before Gauldin stopped the play. After a few plays, the Cougars scored another touchdown and an extra point field goal, making the score 13-16. 

On offense, the Choctaws first two attempts at gaining yards were unsuccessful. On the third down, Taylor ran the ball for 6-yards, earning another first down for the Choctaws. During the second down, Daniels threw the ball to Taylor for a 13-yard pass, earning another first down for the Choctaws. Drew Evans, senior #8, attempted to run for a first down but was unsuccessful. On their final attempt to run the ball, Daniels threw a 17-yard pass to Evans, receiving a first down. At halftime, the score remained 13-16 in favor of the Munford Cougars. 

To start off the third quarter, Hampton kicked off from the 40-yard line. Munford’s offense started at the 35-yard line. On the third down, #1 from Munford’s offense broke through the Choctaws’ defense and ran a 57-yard touchdown pass. They kicked an extra point field goal, making the new score 13-23. The first and second plays for the Choctaw’s offense resulted in a fumble and a penalty. After another unsuccessful attempt at a first down, Rouse was brought onto the field to punt on the fourth down.  

On the first down for the Cougars, the Choctaws broke through their defensive line before the quarterback could make a play. The Cougars ran for 46-yards, receiving another first down. #1 from the Cougars attempted an additional first down, but it was shut down by Banga. They eventually received a first down, but their attempt at another one was prevented by Livingston. On their second down, #1 ran from the 15-yard line and scored a touchdown. The score was now 13-29 with five minutes remaining in the third quarter. 

Munford took the field for kick-off. Their first attempt at kick-off was unsuccessful, causing them to redo it, since #14 didn’t kick the ball far enough inside. The Choctaw offense started at the 33-yard line. After three unsuccessful attempts, Rouse once again took to the field to punt. On Munford’s second down, #11 attempted to run for a 53-yard touchdown but was cut short at the 13-yard line by Banga. They successfully scored a touchdown on their next play but failed the two-point conversion. The score was now 13-39, in favor of the Cougars, with one minute left in the third quarter. 

The Choctaw offense started on the 47-yard line. Taylor received the ball from Daniels and went on to run for 45-yards, being only two yards shy of a touchdown. Livingston rushed through Munford’s defensive line, scoring a touchdown for the Choctaws. Their attempt at extra points was unsuccessful, making the score 19-29. 

Hampton kicked off the fourth quarter with the score being 19-39. Munford’s offense started at the 30-yard line. #1 from Munford attempted to run for a touchdown, but only made it to the 15-yard line before being stopped by Patterson. Munford ended up making an 11-yard touchdown pass and two-point conversion, making the score now 19-47. 

On offense, Livingston ran 52-yard for a touchdown on the second down. Taylor attempted to run for extra points but was unsuccessful, making the score 25-47. #11 from the Cougars was able to break through the Choctaws’ line of defense and run the ball 25-yards short of the goal line before being stopped by Patterson. Garrett Launer, senior #55, was able to tackle #2 from the Cougars at the 11-yard line. On second down, Launer and Kuykendall worked together to bring down #1 at the 1-yard line. On the fourth down, the Cougars were able to break through the Choctaws’ defense, scoring a touchdown. They went on to kick for an extra point, making the score 25-54.

In the last-minute effort to close the gap between the two teams, Daniels threw a 44-yard touchdown pass to Patterson on the first down. They attempted to score a few extra points, but the ball was fumbled and recovered by the Choctaws, making the play no good. The score was now 31-54. Munford’s offense snapped the ball to the quarterback, and he took a knee, signaling the end of the last play of the game. 

The game ended with a score of 31-54 in favor of Munford. The Dyer County Choctaws had 172 rushing yards and 172 passing yards, equaling 344 total yards. The Choctaws will play Memphis Overton away on Friday, September 30, 2022.