Deshler earns 2nd-round game with win over North Jackson

The Deshler Tigers have already topped last season and then some.

In 2024, Deshler went 6-4 and fell inches short of the playoffs.

Fast forward to 2025, and the Tigers are 10-1 with a 42-14 Class 4A first-round playoff win over North Jackson under their belts.

While that is better than 2024, the standard at Deshler demands more.

The Tigers are just three years removed from a 12-1 season and a third-round playoff run.

However, Deshler hasn’t hoisted a blue map since 1999, and a state title is what the program is always hunting.

The next hurdle in the way is a road game on Nov. 14 against unbeaten Hamilton.

The Aggies are 11-0 in a collectively weaker region. The two teams have not met on the gridiron since 2014, a 22-21 win for the Tigers.

The winner of the matchup will face the victor of Anniston (11-0) and Madison Academy (9-2).

Deshler got on the board against North Jackson when Price Thornton flipped the ball to Jeremiah Fletcher, who went 65 yards untouched for a score.

Tripp Brooks put the point after through the uprights, and the Tigers led 7-0.

A fumble recovery by Skyler Kindle led to a 21-yard touchdown pass from Thornton to a wide-open Garrett Reid midway through the opening quarter.

Thornton would notch another Tiger touchdown on a 23-yard run to make it 21-0 late in the first.

North Jackson would finally make it onto the scoreboard with a goal-line run just before the end of the half.

Thornton tallied another touchdown run, this one from 9 yards out, before the Chiefs would make it 28-14 with a touchdown pass midway through the third quarter.

Deshler’s next drive ended abruptly with a fumble, but the Tigers regained possession one play later thanks to a Brycen Williams interception.

The ensuing drive ended with a 25-yard touchdown pass from Thornton to Reid to make it 35-14.

The final score of the night would come by way of a 2-yard run by Kindle.

“We played a little sloppy at the end of the first half, but I’m proud of how we responded in the second,” Deshler head coach Patrick Malone said.