By Myra Bean

The Batesville Tigers 11-and-12-year-olds repaid the Oxford Buccaneers in the Super Bowl game Saturday morning. The Bucs entered the Super Bowl undefeated while Batesville had only the one loss to Oxford on its record.

After a back and forth game, the Tigers claimed the Super Bowl win 40-30.

It was a heads up play by Tiger MVP Stedarrius Sanford who intercepted an Oxford pass and returned it 73-yards for the score to pad the lead 38-30 with 2:16 left in the game.

However, it was the four-yard run by Patrick Shegog with 7:55 left in the game which tied the game at 30. Robert Hentz was one of the heroes of the day as he kicked all five field goals for the extra points, good for two points each, which is the difference in the game.

Oxford missed its last kick when the Bucs extended their lead 30-16 with 2:31 left in the third quarter. Missed tackles led to an Oxford 56-yard touchdown run with 7:13 left in the third quarter which broke the 16-16 halftime tie.

Sanford scored the game’s first touchdown on the first down of the opening possession on a 55-yard touchdown run with 7:45 on the first quarter clock. With Hentz’s kick, the Tigers led 8-0.

Oxford put together a 73-yard drive and capped it with a one-yard touchdown run with 4:35 left in the first quarter. With the kick, the game was tied at eight.

After an interception by Darrell Crowder, the Tigers retook the lead on a 32-yard run by Jordan Strong. Hentz’s kick gave the Tigers a 16-8 lead with 4:33 left in the first half. Crowder intercepted the ball on the Tiger 42 and returned it to the Bucs 40-yard line. Three plays later, Strong scored after two runs by Sanford of one and seven yards.

With 1:22 left in the first half, Oxford scored on a 14-yard run and extra point kick to tie the game at 16 going into halftime.

The Tigers tied the game at 24 on a three-yard run by Strong and extra point kick by Hentz with 5:07 on the third quarter clock. The touchdown capped a four-play, 43-yard drive.
Kendricus Carlton ended Oxford’s final possession with an interception.

The Tigers had 185 total offensive yards, all rushing. Sanford led with 78 yards on seven carries and one touchdown. He also returned one interception for a touchdown. Strong had 12 carries for 69 yards and two touchdowns. Shegog scored one touchdown on three carries and 38 yards.