Tigers fall in regular season finale
Published 10:30 am Wednesday, October 28, 2026
Last Friday, the Stockton Tigers hosted the Miller Cardinals in Southwest Conference action as both teams were playing their last regular game of the season. Miller, with a 6-2 record and a single conference loss to Marionville, hoped to keep pace with the Comets and either win or share a conference title. The Tigers hoped to improve their district standing with a win.
The night started out on a positive note as the hometown Tigers took the opening kickoff and marched 64 yards, finding themselves with a second and one from the one yard line. After a play of no gain and a loss of a yard followed by a 5 yard penalty, the Tigers faced a 4th and goal from the seven yard line. A fourth down pass fell incomplete, handing the ball to Miller. Four plays later, the game had traded ends as Miller found the end zone with 3:50 remaining in the first quarter. A successful extra point attempt made the score 7-0.
In the second quarter, Jase Norman picked off a Miller pass for the first turnover of the game but the Tiger offense was unable to capitalize on the takeaway. After a Tiger punt, the Tiger defense forced a Cardinal punt attempt but a bad snap gave the ball to Stockton just 28 yards from the end zone. The next Tiger possession included an overturned Miller interception as a result of a penalty and a reversal of a penalty against Chase Gregory who was initially called for hurdling over the defense. Finally, with only 48 seconds remaining in the half, the Tigers struck paydirt but a missed extra point allowed Miller to remain in the lead, 7-6, as halftime arrived.
Following the break, Miller had the first possession but a turnover at the 14 yard line gave the Tigers the ball and a long field. The offense could gain no traction, forcing a Tiger punt. At the 4:17 mark, a nine play Cardinal drive was capped off with a touchdown but a blocked extra point kept the Miller lead at seven with the score now 13-6. On the next Stockton possession, a fumble gave the ball back to Miller who scored again with under a minute remaining in the quarter. With the successful extra point, Miller held a 21-6 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
On the Tiger possession overlapping into the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Tigers again found the end zone, cutting the lead to 21-14 with 8:57 remaining in the game. On the next Miller possession, a 13 play drive ended with a turnover on downs, giving Stockton an opportunity to strike again with 2:54 remaining. Unfortunately for the hometown fans, the first play of the drive resulted in a fumble, recovered by Miller, just 35 yards from the goal line. Miller drove to the four yard line and, with just 12 seconds remaining, the visitors made a dubious decision to run a play instead of kneeling to run out the clock. Miller scored, giving the Cardinals a 28-14 advantage which held until the final horn just seconds later.
Statistically, Miller held a significant offensive advantage, racking up 359 yards of total offense while Stockton generated just 208 total yards. Cannon Brown was 10 for 20 for 101 yards passing while Chase Gregory paced the ground game, collecting 77 yards on 14 attempts with Henry Abercrombie adding 40 yards on 8 rushes. Jase Norman had 5 tackles with 4 assists while Abercrombie added 3 tackles and 10 assists on the defensive side of the ball.
The Tigers will travel to Granby to face East Newton next Friday night to open the Class 2, District 4 football district tournament. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. In a bit of an unusual twist, both Stockton and East Newton share identical 3-6 records. East Newton has wins over two Class 4 and one Class 3 school, giving them bonus points, placing them third in the Class 2, District 4 standings while Stockton is the #6 seed.
