Destin loses battle to Meigs

In a battle to the end, the Destin Marlins came up short on the road in a 38-36 loss to the Meigs Wildcats in middle school football action Thursday evening.

“I was proud of our effort. They never gave up,” said Destin Coach Daniel Griffin as he walked off the field in Shalimar.

The stats were about even across the board with Destin rolling up 315 yards total offense with 133 on the ground and 182 through the air. Meigs, on the other hand, gained most of their yardage on the ground tallying up 324 rushing and 15 passing.

Meigs got on the board quick, scoring on their first play from scrimmage on a 45-yard run by Canyon Patterson. Kyle Mcglothlin ran in the 2-point conversion for an 8-0 start.

Destin answered with a seven-play drive with Trey Wainwright scoring on a 20-yard keeper up the middle. Wainwright hit Brady Bachman for the 2-point conversion and an 8-8 game.

Early in the second quarter, Meigs scored again on a 2-yard run by Patterson and Mcglothlin ran in the 2-point conversion to go up 16-8.

Just seconds before the half, Destin struck on a 53-yard catch and run from Wainwright to Jackson Smith for the score. The 2-point try failed. Meigs led 16-14 at the break.

Late in the third quarter, Meigs scored on a 48-yard run by Mcglothlin, but failed in the conversion attempt.

Destin tied it up again at the start of the fourth. Wainwright capped off an eight-play drive on a 1-yard run up the middle. Wainwright called his number again on the 2-point conversion for a 22-22 game.

Meigs didn’t waste any time. The Wildcats scored on the first play on a 70-yard run by Mcglothlin. Mcglothlin also ran in the 2-point play to go 30-22.

Destin evened it up again. With 6:39 to play, Bachman threw the ball across field to Wainwright who ran it down the side for a 45-yard score. Bachman scored the 2-point conversion.

Destin took its first lead of the game with 3:47 left to play on a 43-yard run by Bachman. The conversion attempt failed.

Meigs drove 49 yards in seven plays with Elijah Johnson scoring on a 1-yard run up the middle. Patterson scored the 2-point conversion to go up 38-36 with 1:29 left.

Destin tried to get something going but was hit with a couple of penalties and a couple of bad snaps.

Meigs got the ball back with 25 seconds and finished out the game.