With the season on the line for two cross-county rivals, North Pike stuck to its game plan of controlling the football and running the clock en route to a 23-0 win against South Pike at North Pike Middle School Friday night to advance to the postseason.
The Jaguars (5-6, 2-3) will travel to West Lauderdale (11-0, 5-0) for the first round of the postseason next Friday with kickoff set for 7 p.m.
North Pike head coach Chris Smith recalled going against the Knights in a playoff game several years ago when he was an assistant at McComb.
“Good football team,” he said. “Well coached. I’m kind of halfway familiar with them. We played them when I was at the other school I coached at, and they’ll be a well-coached team, very sound, run the football and play good defense.”
The Jaguars set the tone early against the Eagles (4-6, 1-4) as sophomore Larry Dillon returned the opening kickoff 29 yards to midfield.
North Pike senior kicker Reagan Ivey capitalized with his first of three field goals on the night — this one from 24 yards — to give the Jaguars a 3-0 lead with 9:28 remaining in the first quarter. Jaguars senior running back Bryceon Magee had a 1-yard touchdown run with five seconds remaining in the first quarter to extend the lead to 10-0.
South Pike had opportunities to come from behind in the second quarter, but a penalty and turnover proved costly.
The Eagles advanced the ball into the red zone on a 23- and 8-yard run from freshman quarterback Dontavious Turner, but a block below the knees moved the ball back to the Jaguars 38. South Pike turned the ball over on downs.
Jaguars junior outside and middle linebacker Austin McCullough recovered a Turner fumble on a run play giving North Pike possession at its own 42 with 4:49 remaining in the first half.
“Our line, they did what they had to do to stop him, and I got the ball, just picked it up and tried to do something with it,” McCullough said. “I saw it pop out, and I just picked it off the ground and went with it.”
He also expressed excitement about getting into the playoffs once again.
“It’s a great accomplishment,” McCullough said. “We worked so hard over the summer. We did it.”
North Pike scored on a 49-yard pass from freshman quarterback Alijah Martin to junior wide receiver Dylan Adams with 53 seconds to play in the first half to extend the lead to 17-0.
South Pike head coach Brinson Wall said North Pike junior defensive end Ronnie Bates, sophomore defensive end Jace McCoy and other linemen hurt his team.
“I thought their offensive line and defensive line were better than we were up front,” Wall said. “We had a hard time moving the football.”
Bates intercepted a pass from South Pike senior William Carter at the North Pike 13 with 9:33 remaining in the fourth quarter. McCoy and sophomore defensive end Uquanta White pressured Carter on the play.
Jaguars junior outside linebacker Tyric Miller intercepted Turner at the South Pike 34 with 9:56 remaining in the third quarter.
Ivey capitalized with a 29-yard field goal to extend the lead to 20-0 and also had a 24-yard field goal with 20 seconds to play in the third quarter.
“That’s our goal when we started the year was to get to the playoffs. Once you get in the playoffs, anything can happen,” Smith said. “I’m proud of the guys — probably the best game we played all year on both sides of the football. We still made some mistakes here and there. I was most proud of the defense. They played with a lot of intensity. They made some big hits. I was real proud of them. It’s been a long time since we pitched a shutout.”
Two long delays occurred on South Pike injuries, and ambulances came and took both athletes to the hospital.
Senior defensive tackle Jamarius Wells suffered a neck injury with 1:34 remaining in the third quarter, while Turner had issues after already coming out of the game and being on the sideline with 3:07 to play in the game.
Turner had missed the past five weeks with a broken collarbone but was cleared to play Friday and got the start.
“I do not know what happened with Dontavious,” Wall said. “He was in the game playing, and then when he came out of the game, something happened on the sideline.”
Martin had 121 passing yards for one touchdown and 64 rushing yards. He is 2-2 in four games as the starter and did not make many costly mistakes Friday.
Martin lost a fumble to South Pike junior safety Javosity Jones at the Jaguars 44 with 5:50 remaining in the third quarter, but other than that, the freshman got the job done.
“That’s the big thing. He makes the plays that he’s supposed to be making,” Smith said. “He doesn’t get us in a bind by doing things he’s not capable of doing. He’s just going to get better every game. We’re proud of him, and he’ll keep working.”
While the Eagles missed the playoffs in Wall’s first season as head coach, he was not disappointed with his athletes’ effort.
“They played hard for us,” he said. “We got beat up a little bit, but they played hard, and I’m proud of them. I think we’ve got it started. We played a lot of young kids. We’ve got a lot of kids that got some experience this year. We’ve just got to build. Our next step will be where we go from here.”
North Pike offensive coordinator Jason Cooksey recalled being an offensive line coach at South Pike in 2011 under former head coach Willie Brown. The Eagles were 4-6 that season but advanced to the third round of the playoffs.
Cooksey hopes for a similar scenario at North Pike.
“The season starts over now,” he said. “Everybody’s back to 0-0. Several years ago, we had an opportunity when I was at South Pike coaching. We slipped in with a 4-6 record and went all the way to the third round and was one play away from going to South state. Things didn’t work out for us then, but when the season starts over, everybody’s 0-0. It’s a new season. We’re ready to start playing.”
The Jaguars offensive coordinator enjoyed the rivalry against the Eagles.
“When you play people you know this close, you’re all good friends except for one week of the year,” Cookey said. “You hope they go 9-1 every year — just lose that one against you. It’s good old fashioned rivalry, I think. The kids played hard tonight.”
NORTH PIKE 23, SOUTH PIKE 0
Score by Quarters
1 2 3 4 Tot.
South Pike 0 0 0 0 — 0
North Pike 10 7 6 0 — 23
Scoring Summary
(First Quarter)
North Pike — Ivey 24 FG, 9:28
North Pike — Magee 1 run (Ivey kick), 0:05
(Second Quarter)
North Pike — Martin 49 pass to Adams (Ivey kick), 0:53
(Third Quarter)
North Pike — Ivey 29 FG, 6:13
North Pike — Ivey 24 FG, 0:20
Team Statistics
South Pike North Pike
First Downs 8 12
Rushes-Yards 24-113 39-146
Passing Yards 82 121
Total Yards 195 267
Punts-Avg. 4-28.25 4-39.5
Fumbles-Lost 2-1 1-1
Penalties-Yds. 8-45 4-20
Individual Statistics
Rushing
South Pike — Turner 5-65, Amos 15-32, Carter 4-16.
North Pike — Martin 18-64, Magee 14-65, Dillon 7-17.
Passing
South Pike — Turner 4-12 for 61 yards, 1 INT, Carter 2-9 for 21 yards, 1 INT.
North Pike — Martin 6-13 for 121 yards, 1 TD.
Receiving
South Pike — Carter 2-28, Williams 2-15, Adams 1-23, Jackson 1-16.
North Pike — Adams 5-116, 1 TD, Jackson 1-5.
Defense
South Pike — Jones 1 fumble recovery, Armstrong 13 tackles, Shields 9 tackles, Brumfield 8 tackles, Smith 7 tackles.
North Pike — McCullough 1 fumble recovery, Miller 1 INT, Bates 1 INT.
