The Taylorville Tornadoes put up a valiant effort but came up short in a 25-12 loss to Mt. Zion that saw nearly all the scoring done in the first half. Taylorville got on the board first with a Wyatt Younker deep reception but the Braves defense stood tall and forced the Tornadoes to kick a field goal. Mt. Zion answered back with a series of 6-7 yard passes as Mt. Zion would slowly and methodically pick apart the Taylorville defense eventually leading to a Braves touchdown.
Taylorville would again move down the field easily and put up another successful drive, but once again the Braves did a good job of shutting down the Taylorville offense in the red zone, and the Tornadoes were forced to kick a field goal again. Taylorville trailed 7-6. Mt. Zion would get a huge touchdown from quarterback Keller Stocks on a huge quarterback keeper and the Tornadoes would trail 14-6. The Tornadoes would score a touchdown courtesy of a huge reception from Malique Pearse to make it 14-12, but fail to convert on the two point conversion on a dropped pass from Wyatt Younker.
The Tornadoes had Mt. Zion dead to rights with a little over a minute left in the first half, but Mt. Zion was able to convert a 3rd and 29 from deep in their own territory courtesy of a late hit on a pass and Mt. Zion drove down the field. The Tornadoes appeared to have stopped the Braves at the 8 yard line as time expired for halftime, but Mt. Zion called a timeout, and the refs deemed there was enough time left on the clock to give the Braves a free play in which they scored a field goal to head into the locker room up 17-12 at halftime.
Taylorville would force Mt. Zion to punt but Taylorville quarterback Cameron Smith threw a interception after a blitz forced him out of pocket, and Mt. Zion responded with a JC Anderson touchdown. No one scored the rest of the game as Mt. Zion ran down the clock for a good portion of the fourth quarter and the Braves won 25-12. Mt. Zion improved to 7-1 and 5-0 in conference securing the Apollo Conference Championship. Taylorville fell to 4-4 and 3-2 in conference.
The Tornadoes will finish their season on the road against Civic Memorial. They need a win in order to secure a playoff spot. Wide Receiver Wyatt Younker was named the Nicole Patrick Country Financial Player of the Game.












