By Brandon Sumrall | Special to the Advertiser

A shootout between the West Blocton Tigers and Verbena Red Devils resulted in 103 points on the scoreboard, but saw Verbena come away on the short side of the score as West Blocton picked up the 62-41 win.

The Tigers (5-1 Overall; 3-0 Region) wasted little time getting on the board as a 66-yard opening drive would end on a 29-yard touchdown run by Trey Underwood to put West Blocton up 6-0.

The Red Devils (2-3; 2-1) answered with a score of their own with a 51-yard touchdown drive that ended on a 17-yard touchdown pass from Tristan Short to Juwan Tyus to give Verbena a 7-6 lead.

The Tiger running game was an unstoppable force for the Red Devils all night as West Blocton punched in two more on 54- and 53-yard touchdown runs by Underwood to give West Blocton a 20-7 lead late in the first quarter.

A 52-yard drive by Verbena would end with a 39-yard touchdown pass from Short to Christian Blauch cut the Tigers lead to six, 20-14 with 1:40 to play in the first.

The West Blocton running game again answered with a touchdown as Kaleb Chadwick broke lose for a 60-yard touchdown carry to make the score 28-14.

The lead was short lived however as the Red Devils again answered with a touchdown through the air as Short and Tyus again connected, this time for five yards to make the score 28-22.

Another rushing touchdown by the Tigers was again answered by the Red Devils as Short connected on another passing touchdown, this time with Anthony Miller for 49 yards to bring the score to 36-28 with 4:29 to remain in the first half.

Shadwick broke another long run on the Tigers ensuing drive, this time from 74 yards and with a 81-yard touchdown run by Underwood, West Blocton took a 50-28 lead to the half.

“We just couldnt make a tackle,” Verbena head coach Mike Harris said. “They were a good football team and we didn’t tackle very well.”

Underwood and Shadwick combined for 559 yards and seven touchdowns for the Tigers.

Short led the Red Devil passing game with 337 yards through the air on 25 completions and 33 attempts with six touchdowns.

Tyus was Shorts’ top target and ended the game with 13 receptions for 147 yards and four touchdowns.