FAYETTE — The Jaguars traveled to Jefferson County with the hopes of spoiling a homecoming and taking another big step towards the playoffs. North Pike didn’t accomplish either by allowing four turnovers and numerous big plays on defense in its 38-6 loss.
The Tigers, on the other hand, grabbed the momentum early in the game and never looked back. Jefferson County, behind a big-play passing attack, all but locked up the No. 2 spot in the playoffs.
It appeared on numerous occasions that the North Pike defense had the Tigers in trouble on third-and-long plays, but Jefferson County always found a way to respond.
It became too easy for the Tigers, and punting situations were ignored by Jefferson County.
North Pike knocked out the Tigers’ quarterback, Percy Turner, in the first quarter, but Jefferson County aired the ball out with backup Jeffery Collins. The Tigers used Martee Tenner and Jermaine Clark in the running game to keep the Jaguars honest and the tandem accounted for 187 yards rushing on 16 carries.
Jefferson County scored on its first three possessions of the game, and the Jaguars never seemed to recover. Collins took over as quarterback on the Tigers’ third possession, and Jefferson County never missed a beat. Collins showed poise in the backfield and easily moved the ball down the field.
North Pike head coach Chris Smith had said early in the week that the Jaguars would try some new things in this game. They appeared to work early, but the Tiger defense made some adjustments, and the Jefferson County defensive backs shut down the Jaguar passing game.
“We were flat on defense and showed no effort,” Smith said. “For the last three games we seemed to improve every week, but for some reason we went backwards this week.
“The offense had some success at times, but we couldn’t put it all together.”
On the Tigers’ opening possession of the game, Jefferson County only needed five plays to find the end zone. On third-and-13, Turner threw deep to Henry Nichols for a 61-yard touchdown with 10:04 remaining in the first quarter. The Tigers couldn’t find the end zone on the conversion, but they had a quick 6-0 lead.
On their next possession, the Tigers had the ball at the North Pike 9-yard line. Jefferson County went to its big fullback Calvin Lewis. Two plays later, Lewis bulled in from the 3 and Tenner scored on the conversion to put the Tigers up 14 - 0.
On North Pike’s next possession, offensive coordinator Brinson Wall decided to slow down the Jefferson County rush. Wall had quarterback T.J. Johnson line up about 15 yards deep in the shotgun. The offensive line then moved to the left side of the field leaving only the center in the middle of the field.
The Jaguars had three receivers split wide right and one receiver lined up behind the offensive line on the left side of the field. The Tigers seemed confused and the formation worked well for the Jaguars. Johnson found Jonathan Phillips for an 11-yard gain, and the Tigers had a late hit that put the Jaguars at midfield.
North Pike then moved the ball down the field behind the running of Kerion Robinson and LaDerrick Turner. Turner rumbled in from the 2 with 1:28 remaining in the first quarter. North Pike was back in the game behind only 14-6.
Jeffery Collins then shut down the Jaguar momentum. Collins moved the ball easily down the field and capped the drive with a 4-yard touchdown run with 9:24 remaining.
North Pike used a good mixture of the pass and run on its next possession, but fumbled the ball away at the Jefferson County 35. The Jaguars went into the half down 22-6.
Collins threw two touchdown passes in the fourth, one for 16 yards and another for 38.
