Jackson Christian advances with second-half comeback

Jackson Christian’s players, coaches and fans stayed on the field at Ronnie Fowler Stadium on Friday for a while after the game with Middle Tennessee Christian School was done.

The Eagles made history just playing the game, as it was the first time they’d hosted a state quarterfinal in school history.

But they made even more history with a second half comeback to win 27-25 to secure a spot in the Division II-A West semifinals.

As the Eagle football community celebrated the win, head coach Darby Palmer took the scene in between hugs from players and family members.

“This is great … I’m not sure how else to describe it … to win this game and then get this team into the semifinals,” Palmer said. “To accomplish that is one thing, but the way we did it and seeing these guys compete the way they did is something else.”

The first half was rough for the Eagles (10-1) as they turned the ball over three times and went into halftime down 18-7. Middle Tennessee Christian (9-3) had a punishing rush attack that did its job in the first two quarters with a couple of big scores in the first quarter to jump out to the lead after Jackson Christian scored first.

Palmer and senior players Wyatt Jones and Jaylen Mosely said there was no anxiety in the locker room during halftime.

“We kept our head on,” Mosley said about halftime conversation.

“We just talked about what kind of team we are, our culture and that there’s a standard we’ve set for ourselves that we hadn’t lived up to in the first half,” Palmer said. “We made a few adjustments defensively, but other than that, we simply had to read our keys better, take care of the ball and just commit to playing the football we play and play it at a high standard to give our team a chance.”

After MTCS scored another touchdown to go up 25-7, Kam Boyd ran in a touchdown for Jackson Christian to begin the comeback.

Elijah DeMoss broke away for a big run six minutes later to cut MTCS’ lead to 25-20.

The Eagles took the lead early in the fourth 27-25 when Mosley caught his second touchdown pass of the night.

“It took us a little while to figure out how to play defense against their offense, but we never gave up,” said Jones, who plays linebacker for the Eagles. “Our student section and fans were great, and we were out there pulling for each other as we got closer and closer to them.”

Nashville Christian 42, Trinity Christian 7

The Lions’ season ends with a record of 5-7 with the loss.

TCA actually scored first when Leaky Thompkins ran it in for a score, but Nashville Christian kept the Lions from scoring no more in the first half as they scored three times then added 27 more points after halftime.

Nashville Christian will host Jackson Christian for a state semifinal game next week.