The theme of Friday night’s contest between Collins and Jefferson Davis County was big plays on fourth down. Ironically enough, the final play of the game was a defensive stop on fourth and goal that sealed a 24-19 victory for the visiting Jaguars.
For the hosting Tigers, their game plan was clear from the start: give senior receiver Markell McLaurin opportunities to make plays, and dare anyone to stop him. That plan paid off in the first quarter with two touchdown passes from quarterback Hershey McLaurin to claim an early 13-0 advantage.
Without panicking, the Jaguars flipped the momentum with three defensive stops and three rushing touchdowns to claim the lead — two of which came on fourth down conversion attempts, both run by junior running back Kyser Booth.
McLaurin and the Tigers drove deep into Jaguars territory on the last drive of the half but failed to capitalize on the scoring opportunity. After two touchdowns were negated for penalties, the Jaguars defense stuffed a 4th and goal rush attempt inside the one yard line to force a turnover on downs and take an 18-13 lead into halftime.
“I thought we got in,” said Coach Booth, who believes that was the largest turning point of the night. “But we had three plays to get in. We’ve got to check ourselves and make plays when we get those opportunities.”
Midway through the third, the Jaguars extended their lead to two scores with a 35-yard pass from Michael Carraway to Frank McAfee. But the Tigers responded quickly with a Chris Keys kick return for a touchdown just moments later to come back within a touchdown of the lead entering the final quarter.
Both defenses cracked down in the last period, making crucial stop after stop. Tiger linebacker AJ Barnes led the charge for the home defense, forcing two fumbles to give Hershey McLaurin and the offense multiple opportunities to close the gap.
“That’s my team captain,” Coach Booth said of Barnes. “I couldn’t be more proud with the way he plays and the way he played tonight. He always plays with a lot of heart. I wish I had 10 more of him.”
With little to no success on offense throughout the second half, Collins regained possession with under two minutes remaining for one last opportunity to score. After two catches by Markell McLaurin for 56 yards and a defensive pass interference penalty, the Tigers found themselves inside the five yard line with under 30 seconds to play. Similarly to the end of the first half, however, the drive ended with an incomplete pass on fourth down, and Jefferson Davis County narrowly escaped with their second win of the season.
“There’s not a whole lot to say other than my hat is off to Jeff. Davis,” said Booth. “That’s a great football team. I think we played really well tonight, but we’ve got to make plays in those big moments.”
Now 1-1 on the season, Collins will travel to Northeast Jones next Friday night for a battle of Tigers in pursuit of their second victory.
