MONTICELLO — In a sport where coaches loathe the term “moral victory,” a loss is rarely viewed as a positive turning point for a football program.
However, North Pike’s 36-33 loss to Lawrence County in the Region 7-4A opener for both teams proved to be an outlier to the rule.
In a game of “can you top this,” it appeared the Jaguars (3-4, 0-1) delivered the knockout punch on a 34-yard LaDerrick Turner touchdown run with 1:20 left in regulation.
But North Pike’s jubilation was short-lived. Brennan Miller — who angled his kickoffs toward the sideline all night — missed on his last attempt, and Lawrence County took over at the North Pike 45 after the ball rolled out of bounds.
“He just missed it,” North Pike head coach Chris Smith said. “He’d been kicking it great all night, and we were going to try and get to where we’d been kicking it all night long. He just missed it.”
Two plays later, Trevor Havis knifed through the Jaguar defense for a 24-yard touchdown to put the Cougars ahead for good with 54.8 seconds remaining.
“We knew we had to get in and everybody got the blocks, and hard running got us in,” Havis said.
North Pike couldn’t answer on its final possession, as Jaguars’ quarterback Revis Butler was sacked by Dontez Daggins as time expired.
Despite the disappointment, Smith believed he saw a different side of his team Friday.
“They played their guts out,” he said. “I’m hoping they take this and start believing they are a quality football team, and they are. You hope they’ll take it and run with it.”
After a sloppy performance last week against Amite County, the Jaguars quickly set the tone with a 4-play, 60-yard touchdown drive capped by a 4-yard touchdown pass from Revis Butler to Demetric Jackson.
Only two days after checking out with flu-like symptoms, Butler had one of his better games, finishing with 198 total yards, two touchdown passes and a rushing touchdown.
“I hope he’s sick next week,” Smith said jokingly. “He’s our leader. He had a great ballgame.”
The Cougars seized the momentum on their next two possessions. Lawrence County answered the Jaguars’ score with a 4-yard Havis rush to cap a 7-play, 74-yard drive aided by a 42-yard Josh Cameron run.
One possession later, Cougars’ tailback Alexander Montgomery broke free for a 68-yard touchdown to give Lawrence County a 15-6 lead after Havis’ 2-point conversion.
“It doesn’t matter how good your defense is,” Smith said. “Until your defense actually sees their offense, it’s tough to stop. The first two drives, the kids were looking instead of playing.”
North Pike held the Cougars to a Havis field goal the rest of the half, but had trouble getting the offense untracked. Leading 18-6, the Cougars were were in position to take firm control when Lakendrick Barnes intercepted Butler at the Lawrence County 45.
Five plays later, a Cameron fumble was recovered by A,J. Jefferson, and the Jaguars found a rhythm on offense.
Eleven plays later, Butler found Tonnie Collins on a fade route for a 19-yard touchdown to cut the score to 18-13 with 1:18 left in the half.
With the chain of events, Smith said the Jaguars entered the half with some much-needed confidence.
“At that point, our kids came in at halftime and every one of them said, ‘We can move the football, we can stop them, we can win the football game,’ ” Smith said. “I think when that happened, that’s when the switch came on and every one of them realized we can win the football game.”
Montgomery fumbled on the second play of the Cougars’ opening drive, and P.J. Ratcliff recovered to put the Jaguars in business at the Lawrence County 42.
Three plays later, Butler scampered for a 22-yard touchdown to give the Jaguars a 20-18 lead with 10:00 left in the third quarter.
“I was just praying, ‘defense keep us in the game,’ ” Butler said. “The offensive line blocked excellent. They blocked well on every play.”
Lawrence County regained the lead on a 12-play, 54-yard drive capped by an Adam Watson 1-yard quarterback sneak. The result was met with controversy and confusion on both sides. Smith was livid.
“It was a great defensive stand,” Smith box. “There’s no way he scored.”
The North Pike rushing game responded with 63 yards of a 12-play, 74-yard drive capped by a 27-yard Turner touchdown run to knot the score at 26. Dontez Daggins blocked Wilkinson’s point-after attempt.
The Jaguar defense bent but didn’t break, limiting the Cougars to an 18-yard Havis field goal on their first fourth-quarter possession.
Then, trailing 29-26 with 3:44 left, North Pike’s rushing game took advantage of a tiring Lawrence County defense.
Turner capped a 10-play, 80-yard drive with a 34-yard touchdown run to make it 32-28 with 1:20 left.
“It was our trap play. I just saw (Brandon Cole), and I just followed him, cut and then followed my receivers,” Turner said. “When we scored that last touchdown, I thought for sure we had it.”
