By DJ MOORE

COVINGTON, Ga. — The Alcovy Tigers’ 2022 season came to an end Friday night with a 41-28 victory over the Rockdale County Bulldogs. That marked the third straight win for Alcovy to end the season at 4-6 overall and a fifth place finish in Region 3-AAAAAA at 3-4 — just one game out from a playoff berth. 

The Tigers finished their first season under head coach Spencer Fortson. The Tigers didn’t do so well while competing at Sharp stadium this season as they finished 2-5 at home but on the road, they finished 2-1.

Those three wins came against the Forest Park Panthers, Jonesboro Cardinals and Rockdale County. The Tigers outscored those teams 86-55 during that stretch. 

“I just want to give credit to my guys and the coaching staff,” said Fortson. “We got rolling in the last three games. I’m super excited for the seniors that they were able to close out their year well.” 

The Tigers defeated the Lithonia Bulldogs 35-6 on opening night, but went on to lose their next six games to county rivals, the Newton Rams, and Eastside Eagles, and four region opponents.  During the six-game losing streak, they were outscored 247-73. 

Fortson is excited that his team didn’t stop competing despite their record heading into the last three home games, but he and his coaching staff are looking forward to next season. 

“During the offseason, we will be focusing on getting stronger in the weight room,” said Fortson. “Bigger, faster and stronger is important and we are not going to waste too much time for the younger guys. We are trying to get our guys in other sports like track and wrestling.”

The offense was led by senior quarterback Ashton Evans who finished his career out with a bang as he had three total touchdowns in their final victory of the season against Rockdale County.

Evans and his offense averaged 19.4 points per game while his defense allowed 30.8 points per game. The Tigers scored over 30 points two times this season, but their defense gave up 30 points five times this season. 

“I always tell him that you got 48 minutes out there to fight and you want to leave it out on the field, ‘’ said Fortson when talking about his senior quarterback performance for the season. “He has made great decisions all year long and it helped us to win our last couple of games.”

Fortson knows that being a first-year head coach isn’t a walk in the park and there were going to be trials and tribulations throughout his entire first season. 

“The first thing I learned is that you need quality guys to lead a bunch of young men,” said Fortson. “Both of my coordinators did a great job of building a staff around them so they could put our players in a better position to win.” 

The Tigers next year will be returning some key starters like rising seniors Nasir Watson and Taylor Richardson, which could help them return to the postseason.