Auburn High stays undefeated with blowout win over Smiths Station

SMITHS STATION — Auburn had an answer all night.

Each time Smiths Station appeared to gain a little momentum, No. 10 Auburn found a way to take it right back.

And those answers eventually propelled Auburn to a 44-22 win in a jam-packed Panther Stadium in a key Class 6A-Region 3 game between two unbeaten teams.

“I’m so proud of our kids, because this wasn’t easy,” Auburn head coach Tim Carter said. “In the second half, we really got after it and just kept coming back ’em.

“I’m real proud of where we are, and we’re going to keep working hard.”

While Auburn (6-0, 4-0 Region) was able to answer each time Smiths Station found success, none was bigger than a four-play Tiger drive in the fourth quarter.

After Smiths Station (5-1, 3-1) cut a 15-point deficit to just 8 with 8:09 to play, Auburn took over at its own 40.

A 30-yard run from quarterback Calvin Jenkins started things off, and he followed with back-to-back runs of 11 yards.

Tailback Latrell Jenkins then scored from 8 yards out, and just like that the Tigers had their 15-point cushion back.

From there Auburn’s defense shut down Smiths Station, while the offense scored once more on a 37-yard Latrell Jenkins run with 59.9 left for the final 22-point margin.

“It was a great football game and I’m proud of our kids for fighting and playing hard to the end,” Smiths Station head coach Mark Rose said. “Auburn is just the better football team.”

The Jenkins duo did a little of everything for Auburn on the night. And Smiths Station never found a way to stop either.

Calvin Jenkins tallied 296 all-purpose yards. He rushed 21 times for 96 yards and scored two touchdowns. He also completed 13-of-21 passes for 200 yards with another score.

Latrell Jenkins carried the ball 10 times and scored three touchdowns. Two of his scores came on runs of 67 and 37 yards.

For the game, Auburn racked up 471 total yards of offense.

“I thought we mixed it up really well,” Carter said. “We’ve got a lot of different things we can do which makes it tough to defend us.”

Smiths Station had its share of offense as well, totalling 296 for the night. Running back Robert Frinks had the big night for the Panthers, rushing 16 times for 171 yards and two touchdowns. That included a 77-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.

With 66 total points scored, amazingly things started as a defensive battle with the first points not coming until the 8:20 mark of the second quarter.

That’s when Auburn got an interception from Terrell Ross and scored two plays later.

But Smiths Station quickly knotted things up as Frinks darted through the middle of Auburn’s defense for 77 yards on the first play after the kickoff.

Auburn came right back with a scoring drive to retake the lead, but Smiths Station answered with an 11-play drive that culminated with a Chris Whitehorn touchdown run from 2 yards.

On the point-after kick, Cody Hussey bobbled the snap, picked it up and ran for a 2-point conversion that gave Smiths Station a 15-14 lead with 52.4 left before the half.

But as it did all night, Auburn had an answer.

The Tigers quickly drove down the field and Mason Wachter hit a 26-yard field goal as the first half expired.

Auburn stretched the lead out of the locker room with an eight-play touchdown drive.

Smiths Station drove into Auburn territory later in the third, but two well defended pass breakups turned the ball over on downs at the 32.

On the first play, Latrell Jenkins went loose for 67 yards and the touchdown to put the Tigers up, 30-15.

Smiths Station answered right back with a 10-play scoring drive into the fourth to cut Auburn’s lead to 8, but the Tigers’ responded with their quick four-play drive to put things away.

Auburn will try to keep its record spotless next Friday at Russell County. Smiths Station heads to Enterprise.

tpeavy@oanow.com | 737-2568