CORDELE — After an 0-3 start, the Crisp County Cougars were ready to show their fans that they could play winning football. Unfortunately for Jackson, the Cougars decided to prove they could win last Friday night, pouncing on the Red Devils, 27-0.
Jackson had its chances, with a dropped pass in the Crisp endzone and a missed field goal stopping their first drive, and a fumbled snap inside the Cougar 20 stopping their second drive. Even when fortune shined down on them, the Red Devils couldn’t take advantage of it. After Dallas Stewart intercepted a Cougar pass, on Jackson’s next play, Les Callen’s pass was intercepted and returned 88 yards for a score. All that happened in the first half and led to a 21-0 deficit.
In the second half, Crisp added one more touchdown and Jackson only got past the 50-yard-line into Cougar territory once.
“We were a step slow, missed a million tackles, we drove the ball and didn’t finish driving, gave up big plays, got turnovers and didn’t capitalize on it,” said coach Dary Myricks. “You think about it tonight and it probably happened to us in some aspect. It isn’t that the ball didn’t go our way, it’s just that we didn’t play a really good football game at all tonight.”
Crisp started in good field position after the opening kickoff was returned to the Jackson 46. Eight plays later, the quarterback kept the ball on a 4-yard run for the score. With the PAT kick, Crisp led 7-0 with 8:21 left in the first quarter.
The Cougar kicker booted kickoffs into the endzone all night, so Jackson settled for starting on its own 20 each time. The first play was the biggest of the Red Devils’ first drive, with Callen hitting Cameron Edwards outside for a 41-yard gain to the Crisp 39. Four plays later, on 3rd and 13 at the Cougar 23, Callen sent a pass into the endzone that Marco Barlow couldn’t hang onto. On 4th and 13, Peyton Zimmerman’s 38-yard field goal try was just wide.
Crisp took over and moved the ball down to the Jackson 23 before a fumble stopped the drive, giving the Red Devils the ball. Jackson again moved the ball down the field, aided by an offsides flag on Crisp on 4th down. On 3rd and goal from the 16, the snap was fumbled and the Cougars recovered.
Crisp’s second score drive took just three plays as the game went into the second quarter. On 2nd and 8 at their own 39, the Cougar QB threw a bomb downfield that the receiver gathered in and scored on a 61-yard pass play. With the PAT, Crisp led 14-0 with 11:51 left in the first half.
Jackson only got four plays in on its next drive, as Callen’s pass on 1st and 10 at the Jackson 37 was intercepted at the Crisp 48. The Cougars again moved down the field, getting to the Jackson 3-yard-line on five plays. But the Red Devils had their best defensive stand of the night, holding Crisp out of the endzone. On 4th and goal, a Crisp running back was sacked seven yards back, and Jackson took over at its own 10-yard-line.
But four plays later the Red Devils had to punt the ball back. Crisp took over at its own 48. On 2nd down, the QB’s pass was intercepted by Stewart and returned to the Cougar 42. But on the very next play, Callen’s pass was intercepted at the Crisp 12 and returned 88 yards for a score. With the PAT, Crisp led 21-0 at the half.
Jackson took the kickoff to start the second half, but didn’t get far and punted the ball back. Crisp took over at its own 30 and went 70 yards on seven plays for the score. The PAT was wide, but the Cougars led 5:02 left in the third.
The teams punted the ball back and forth for the rest of the third and into the fourth quarter. Jackson found itself in good field position after Edwards picked up a punt off the ground and returned it to the Crisp 39. The Red Devils were able to move the ball down to the Cougars’ 22, but on 4th and 9, Callen went back to pass, was forced to run, and was sacked at the 29 to end Jackson’s last hope for a score.
Callen was 16-26-2 for 209 yards passing. Luke Matthews was 2-4-0 for 8 yards. Edwards was the favored receiver, with 9 catches for 151 yards. Chance Goddin had 5 catches for 17 yards, Okemus Grier had 2 receptions for 17 yards, Carlos Barlow had 1 catch for 30 yards, and J.T. McKibben had 1 catch for 2 yards.
On the ground, McKibben had 5 carries for 17 yards. Matthews had 3 carries for 11 yards, Dawson Livingston had 1 carry for 3 yards, and Grier had 1 carry for minus 4 yards. Callen had the most carries with 9, but was sacked 7 times and ended up with minus 41 yards. All told, Jackson had 19 carries for minus 14 yards.
The Red Devils will need to regroup and get ready to take on Pike County Friday night in Zebulon. Jackson defeated Pike at home last year, 35-14. This season, Pike is 1-2 under new coach Brad Webber. Their two losses came against Spalding and Lamar County, but their win came last week in Thomaston as they upset last year’s region champion, Upson-Lee, 44-33. It was the first time the Pirates have beaten the Knights since 2012. Friday night will also be Pike’s Homecoming Game.
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