Trailing 7-6 in the late in the first quarter against Loyd Star, North Pike quarterback Revis Butler threw a short hitch route to wide receiver Tonnie Collins.
The speedster caught the ball, darted through the Loyd Star secondary and carried the ball to the end zone to complete an 82-yard catch catch-and-run and help the Jaguars retake the lead at 14-7.
Despite some early struggles, the play ignited the Jaguars, and North Pike (4-1) never looked back en route to a 55-14 homecoming win.
“That touchdown kind of jarred us awake,” North Pike coach Chris Smith said.
The Jaguar offense capitalized on seven Hornet turnovers — including six fumbles — and racked up more than 500 yards of offense in the win.
Big plays played a big part in the win as well. Three of North Pike’s eight touchdowns were achieved on gains of 70 yards or more.
The Hornets’ miscues started on the first play of the game as Loyd Star returnman Kyle Johnson couldn’t hang onto the ball and North Pike’s Demetric Jackson recovered at the Hornet 29.
Adams connected with Collins for a 10-yard score two plays later, and with 33 seconds elapsed from the clock, the Jaguars held a 6-0 lead.
Loyd Star (1-4) had its share of opportunities in the quarter. The Hornets responded with a 7-play, 28-yard drive that was upended by a 9-yard Tariq Johnson sack of Hornet quarterback Korey Allen. Jemerick Jordan blocked Cori Crowe’s ensuing 34-yard field goal attempt.
Butler fumbled on the Jaguars’ next offensive play — the Jaguars’ lone turnover of the contest — to set the Hornets up at the North Pike 25.
Five plays later, on fourth-and-15, Hornet quarterback Korey Allen connected with Crowe for a 31-yard scoring toss. Crowe’s extra point gave the Hornets their lone lead of the contest.
“We were in position. We just got outjumped,” Smith said of North Pike cornerback Kethrick Thompson’s coverage on the play.
The Jaguars quickly responded, as Butler hooked up with Collins on the first offensive play of North Pike’s ensuring possession, and the game was one-sided the rest of the way.
Thompson quickly made up for his own miscue as well, picking off Allen’s pass at the North Pike 14 on the Hornets’ first offensive play.
Jaguar running back Jalen Adams wasted little time in expanding the lead to 20-7. On the first play from scrimmage, he swept left, found a crease and took off for an 86-yard touchdown run.
As he broke into the clear, Smith raced down the sideline with his right arm and index finger extended in the air.
“When you’ve got kids with that kind of speed, big plays happen,” Smith said. “We’ve got several kids that, every time they touch the ball, they can go the distance. Tonight, they were just able to do that.”
Jackson recovered another Loyd Star fumble — this time by running back Josh Butler — on the Hornets’ next possession to thwart another scoring threat, and the Jaguars quickly padded their lead with a five-play, 61-yard drive capped by a 20-yard Thompson touchdown run to make it 28-7.
“We had two or three opportunities and we just couldn’t capitalize on them,” said Loyd Star coach Randall Huffman. “Then we turned it over and made it easy on them.”
North Pike scored twice more in the half to build a 42-7 lead at the intermission.
Adams capped a four-play, 5-yard drive with a 19-yard touchdown run.
Johnson followed suit with by recovering a Crowe fumble at the Hornet 30 on the ensuing kickoff, and Thompson capped a six-play drive with a six-yard touchdown run.
The Jaguars added the final nail in the coffin with a 71-yard Jake Martin touchdown run on their second offensive play of the second half to make it 48-7.
“That was big because we told our varsity guys that they were going to get one series,” Smith said. “They did their job tonight. With all the distractions of homecoming, they got focused and they did their work.”
North Pike’s final score of the night followed another Butler fumble — this time recovered by defensive lineman JaDarrius Weatherspoon — at the midfield stripe. A 20-yard touchdown run by Laronte Lee on the first play of the fourth quarter capped a seven-play drive to make it 55-7 North Pike.
The Hornets got on the board one more time on Bradley Archer’s 2-yard touchdown run late in the fourth quarter to make it 55-14.
“We didn’t quit,” Huffman said. “A few weeks ago, we might’ve. Half the people in the state lost tonight.”
The Jaguars will be on the road at Amite County High School next week. Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m.
