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'Questionable' calls doom Aggies
After a scoreless first quarter, T.R. Miller found the end zone first when Cortez Banks sprinted 60 yards to pay dirt with 9:43 left in the first half. Todderick Leggett blocked the PAT by Chris Griffin to keep the lead at 6-0. JHS answered the score with an 8-play, 63-yard drive that was capped off by a Damion Bracey 6-yard touchdown with 5:40 to go in the opening half. J.D. Mitchell nailed the point after to put the Aggies up 7-6. A short kickoff by Mitchell gave T.R. Miller the ball at the 47-yard line and the Tigers took advantage of the good field position with quarterback Will Riggs finishing the drive with a 1-yard touchdown with 25.8 seconds left in the first half. The two-point conversion was not successful but Miller carried a 12-7 lead into the half. The Aggies racked up 154 yards in the first half with Andrew Ezell leading the way with 43 yards on the ground. Ezell ended up with 117 yards in the game. Jackson's offense, led by LaDarius Austin, came out firing on all cylinders to start the second half with the senior gunslinger going 3-3 for 34 yards including a 4-yard touchdown pass to Cory Besteda with 8:36 to go in the third. Mitchell's point after was good and the Aggies had a 14-12 lead over the Tigers. Austin finished the night 11-19 for 142 yards with one touchdown and one interception. The lead didn't last long, as the Tigers marched 71 yards to jump back on top 20-14 with 3:54 left on the clock in the third. Miller forced a threeand out on the Aggies' ensuing possession but Anfernee Crayton boomed a 41-yard punt to the Miller 29-yard line to start the fourth quarter with Miller pinned deep. After a three-and-out forced by the Jackson defense and a 51-yard blast from the T.R. Miller punter, the Aggies took over at the 12-yard line with 11:38 to go trailing 20-14. Jackson marched 88 yards in 11 plays in less than five minutes to take the lead on a 24- yard run by Ezell. A bad snap forced holder Broderick Washington to run on the PAT try and he was stuffed in the backfield as Miller stopped the important extra-point to keep the game tied at 20-20. Miller took over on the 33- yard line and on first down Riggs fumbled the snap and the Aggies recovered at the Tigers' 30. Five plays later, Bracey found the end zone for the second time with a 8-yard run that left several Miller defenders in the dirt. Mitchell's PAT was wide right but the Aggies had a 26-20 lead with 3:34 to go in the game. Facing a second-and-15 with 2:38 to go in the game, Riggs found Banks on a screen pass that covered 63 yards to the Aggie 11. A flag was thrown because of an ineligible receiver down field but was waved off because the ball was thrown behind the line-ofscrimmage (which was the right call). The Aggies again appeared to prevail when Shontavius Simms forced a Miller runner to fumble the ball through the back of the end zone for a touchback. Instead of the Aggies regaining possession with 1:15 to go, the call was reversed because of a facemask. The Aggie defense triumphantly celebrated again after appearing to stop the Tigers just short of the first down marker on a fourth-and-2 from the 3-yard line but after a measurement that went Miller's way, the Tigers had the ball first and goal from the 1-yard line with 52.9 left in the game. Terez Lane plunged in from 1 yard out with .41 left to go to tie the game up at 26-26. Griffin came on to boot the PAT to put the Tigers up by one point at 27-26. Jackson's desperation drive started off successfully with Austin finding Ezell for a 33- yard pass down the sideline to set the Aggies up with a firstand 10 at the 33 with .29 left on the clock. Disaster struck again for the snakebitten Aggies when Austin was forced out the pocket and had to scramble picking up 3 yards to the 30 but remaining in the field of play with no time-outs. Jackson hustled to the line to try to spike the ball to set up a possible game-winning field goal but was penalized for an illegal procedure because the referee never blew the whistle. The reason, the ball boy was halfway on the field when the ball was snapped. A last ditch effort with time running out fell helplessly to the ground to give the Aggies another gutwrenching defeat. "It was an outstanding high school football game. Both teams played hard and played very well. There was a lot of controversy there at the end of the game with some questionable things happening. The bottom line is if we would have done a few more things on the field it would have never come down to that situation," Aggie Coach John Blackmon said.
With the loss the Aggies stand at 2-3 in the area with upcoming games on the road against W.S. Neal on Friday and at home against Hillcrest- Evergreen and Jemison in the following the weeks. There are several possibilities for the Aggies to make the playoffs but they must win out the rest of the way. A loss all but eliminates any chance for post-season action.
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