Ten rushing touchdowns between them, enough fumbles to cause the best of stat keepers to lose count and the first game this season for either team to be played in temps dropping into the forties all contributed to a wild end to the regular season for the Delhi Charter School Gators and the Madison High School Jaguars when they met Friday night in their annual end-of-the-year Class 2A, Distract 2 clash.
This year's matchup coming at home for the Jags in Tallulah, however, wasn't enough to offset MHS playing with a depleted roster totaling less than 20 players, or the fact that quarterback Jeremiah Marshall left the game in the second half with an apparent ankle injury. The Gators outlasted the Jags to the tune of a 40-30 win, despite plenty of miscues and more momentum swings than the 70 points scored between the two squads. And, despite a game that ended with plenty of explosive plays for touchdowns, the Jags and Gators were separated by just 2 points after the first half, with Madison leading Delhi 8-6.
The Gators coughed up the ball on its opening drive, turning it over on the goal line and losing possession, but giving MHS a 99-yard field to work with. DCS would find the end zone to take an early lead after the Jags turned the ball over on downs on its first drive, however, to take an early 6-0 lead. The Jags and Gators traded two more pairs of fumbles, switching possessions within only plays of one another, before Madison's Corey Moore punched the ball in the end zone with just 10 seconds left before halftime. Moore added the 2-point conversion on the ground to give the Jaguars an 8-6 advantage heading into the break.
But, the second half would yield more points - and more fumbles - for both teams. Set up by runs from Jiquan Davis and Marshall, Moore got his second rushing touchdown of the night just over 2 minutes into the third quarter, and Marshall added 2 more on the ground, to give the Jags a 16-6 lead. The Gators would pull within 2 points of the Jaguars with 3:48 left in third off a rushing score and 2-point conversion from Keidron Thomas to trail 16-14. The Gators took the lead back early in the third, with Thomas finding pay dirt on the ground again. After a failed 2-point attempt, DCS led Madison 20-16 with 8:25 to play in the game.
With Marshall sidelined and the Jags taking mostly direct snaps to running backs on offense, MHS forced another lead change with 6:05 to play after Moore found the end zone for a third time to give Madison a 22-20 advantage. Despite another score from Davis for the Jags, MHS found itself trailing 32-30 after two long touchdown runs from DCS quarterback Chad Clark.
With less than a minute to play in a game that seemed to hinge on which offense possessed the ball last, the Gators would force yet another Jaguars fumble deep in its own territory on a DCS kickoff, with Delhi specials teams taking advantage with a scoop and score that put the game out of Madison's reach.
Following the loss that was closer than the 10-point scoring gap indicated, MHS Head Coach Milton Green praised his team for fighting through adversity all season.
"For us to have 14 players, the smallest team in Louisiana, they've got the biggest hearts in the world," Green said. "This whole year, we've led at halftime eight out of ten games with 14 players. That just shows the grit and the grind they put into this."
Despite finishing his first season at the helm for the Jags with a 1-7 (1-5 in District 2) record, Green said the program is poised to make huge strides forward.
"I'm so proud of my seniors," he said. "They laid down the foundation and the sky is the limit for Madison High School. We start Monday. We've got workouts Monday; practice starts Monday and that's all we care about right now."
DCS Head Coach Jeremy Foote said the Gators (5-5, 4-2) also showed determination by finishing the season strong with four straight wins, and will now get a chance to play in the postseason.
"These guys, their perseverance, is unlike any athletic ability we have," Foote said. "I mean, if they fight, they can upset a team in the playoffs. We can make a run for it."
As the Gators wait to find out who it will draw in the first round of the playoffs, Foote said his players should be proud of what they have accomplished in the regular season.
"We were pretty front-loaded on the schedule. The front half of our schedule was very tough, but I told them not to give up. And we ended up winning four games in a row and I'm very proud of them."
While the Jaguars will now look toward next season, the Gators will likely face Jonesboro-Hodge in the first round of the Louisiana High School Athletic Association (LHSAA) playoffs; however, an upset elsewhere in the district, Foote said, could line DCS up for a first-round matchup with Many High School.
For more on Friday's game, including more photos and a look ahead at the Gators' first-round matchup in the LHSAA playoffs, pick up a copy of the Thurs., Nov. 11, edition of the Madison Journal.
