South Pike refused to give up Friday night during a fierce battle against Jefferson County. Bu South Pike handed the undefeated Tigers their first loss of the season in the final moments of the game.
South Pike (2-0, 3-2) was down 14-12 on the Jefferson County 7-yard-line with three seconds remaining in the game when quarterback Tevin Martin dumped a pass over the middle and sure-handed Jermaine Turner went up for the jump ball surrounded by a crowd of Tigers and came down with the game-winning touchdown as time expired.
The 18-14 win puts South Pike atop Region 7-3A with district newcomer Amite County on the schedule Friday.
Trailing by two points with less than a minute to play, South Pike needed something to spark the offense. Turner stepped up. The 6-foot-2, 250-pound junior said he couldn’t give up on the team in the waning seconds.
First, with 27 seconds to play and the ball on the Jefferson County 29-yard line, Turner hauled in a pass and went 22 yards for the first down. Then came the winning grab in the end zone that South Pike coach Randall Huffman called the “best play of the game."”
“I knew we could come out at the end and win it,” Turner said. “All I was thinking about was catching it and winning.”
Martin said Turner called for the ball before the snap.
“He said throw it up and I’ll go get it. My teammates told me not to get crazy. They calmed me down.”
Patience was the key, according to Huffman, who said the team didn’t panic in the last few seconds.
“We knew we had a shot and everything just fell into place,” Huffman said.
Jefferson County (1-1, 4-1) couldn’t beat the South Pike pass rush nor the Eagle defense and gave out toward the end of the game despite having better offensive statistics.
The heralded air attack of Tiger quarterback Percy Turner never materialized as the Eagle secondary shut down the passing lanes and broke up half a dozen pass plays in midair, including some by Brandon Givens, LaCraig Cook and LaBradley Morgan. Michael Dillon and Givens both had sacks for the Eagles.
Before the season started, Huffman said he gathered all his players in the locker room and told them the reason they worked so hard all spring and summer is because late in the game, when other teams start falling down and giving up, the Eagles would still have some stamina. That work ethic proved its merit Friday he said.
“We bent but we didn’t break,” he said. “(Jefferson County) ran more than we thought they would, but the defense gave a tremendous effort. The offense, the defense, everybody gave a tremendous effort the whole game.”
The Eagles came out strong in the first quarter and established an effective running game, but two fumbles for turnovers inside the Jefferson County 10-yard line left the team frustrated.
But the Eagles’ secondary, which had worked all week to prepare for the Tigers air assault, kept South Pike in the game.
South Pike’s TraBradley Morgan picked off a pass in the first quarter and retuned it to the Jefferson County 25-yard line. The pick set up the Eagles’ first touchdown as Martin went five yards for the score on a quarterback keeper. Martin finished the game as the team’s leading rusher with 80 yards on 17 carries.
In the second quarter, the Tigers bounced back sending Jermaine Clark in from six yards out to culminate a 52-yard drive and tie the game at 6-6.
Later in the second quarter, the Eagles took advantage of a bobbled punt return inside the 5-yard line. South Pike’s Jasper Martin pushed South Pike back on top, 12-6, carrying the ball in for a 3-yard touchdown.
Jefferson County regained the lead, 14-12, at the end of the third quarter with Turner scampering in from nine yards out to cap off a 56-yard drive.
