by Scott Sacry, Sports Editor
The Darby football team traveled to Ennis on Saturday, November 1, for the first round of the 8-Player State Playoffs. Darby played tough all day, but fell short and lost to the Mustangs 38-52.
The game had plenty of action. Darby trailed 8-14 after the first quarter, as Darby’s speedy quarterback McCoy Townsend ran for a 15-yard first quarter touchdown. In the second quarter, Ennis extended their lead, scoring three touchdowns. Townsend scored on an 8-yard touchdown run, but Darby trailed 16-34 at halftime.
Ennis scored early in the second half and Darby trailed 16-40 with over five minutes to play in the third quarter. But the Tigers kept fighting, and Townsend scored on a 49-yard touchdown run to trim the deficit to 24-40. Then after a great defensive stop by Darby, Townsend hit Jordan Browning for a 13-yard touchdown pass and catch and Darby only trailed by 8 points, 32-40. Ennis came right back and scored just before the end of the third quarter and Darby trailed 32-46 heading into the 4th.
Townsend scored again on a 1-yard run in the fourth to bring the score to 38-46, but Ennis once again answered with a touchdown to extend their lead. Darby couldn’t put together another scoring drive and lost 38-52.
The hard working Tigers deserve tremendous credit for not giving up and coming back from a 24-point deficit to get within a touchdown, but in the Montana 8-Player playoffs, every team is exceptional and there is little room for error, and the Tigers couldn’t finish the comeback.
Darby quarterback McCoy Townsend ended the game with three rushing touchdown runs and a touchdown pass, as well as four 2-point conversion runs.
The loss ends a successful season for Darby football. The Tigers finished with a 6-3 record and made the playoffs for the first time in over 20 years.