North Side falls at home; USJ, JC, JCM, South Side all start with wins

North Side didn’t come out of a win with its opening game against Crockett County, a 36-34 loss.

But the Indians fought until the end and nearly pushed the game into overtime in the final minute.

The teams traded the lead in the first half before going to halftime tied 22-22.

The Cavaliers scored to go up by seven late in the third quarter, and early in the fourth, North Side went for a 2-point conversion to try to gain the lead with a few minutes left in the game.

That conversion failed, giving Crockett a 29-28 lead.

The Cavs scored on a long run for a 36-28 lead, but North Side scored on a three-play drive that nearly went the full length of the field.

Quarterback Henry Schiebout, a senior transfer from Sacred Heart of Jesus High that closed down over the summer, escaped the pocket deep in North Side territory to get 45 yards down field and set up a play for the end zone.

Because the scoreboard wasn’t operating, no one was really sure of how much time was remaining, so the Indians were in their hurry-up offense. Schiebout connected for a 41-yard touchdown pass with heralded receiver Javonte Smith, who was double-teamed by Crockett’s secondary in the end zone, for the touchdown and a chance to tie if they converted the 2-point conversion.

Crockett’s defense intercepted the pass to tie it and recovered North Side’s on-side kick, allowing the Cavs to run out the clock for the victory.

“Our guys fought hard and mostly executed well, but we came up short,” said North Side coach Woodrow Lowe Jr. “But the mistakes we made are fixable, and that’s what we’ll try to do this week in practice.”

Here’s a look at how the rest of the teams in Madison County did:

Jackson Christian 28, Northpoint 26: The Eagles had to hold off a fierce comeback from the hosting Trojans.

Jay’Len Mosley had three touchdown receptions, and Carlos Robertson had the other. All four were thrown by Austin Kelley.

The Eagles jumped out to a 21-0 lead early before the Trojans fought their way back into it and actually cut the lead to two with less than two minutes to go, but a 2-point conversion failed and the Eagles ran the clock out.

JCM 54, Liberty 0: Jonas Patterson ran for two touchdowns in the first half and Terrell Williams connected with Jaylan Young three times for a 40-0 halftime lead over the Crusaders.

The younger Cougars tacked on two more touchdowns in the second half with the clock running before getting out of there.

USJ 49, Peabody 20: The Bruins scored their first four touchdowns on one-play drives, jumping out to a 28-6 halftime lead and did not look back en route to getting a victory.

QB Corben Howard ran for the first score the threw a 70-yard pass to Noah Spencer for the second one. Howard connected with Mills Terry for another score and a commanding lead.

Spencer ran for another score to increase the lead in the second quarter.

South Side 16, Ripley 11: The Hawks hung on for the victory on the road.

The Hawks scored a touchdown in each half for all of their points. Ripley had a safety just before halftime to give the Tigers the halftime lead, but the Hawks didn’t quit, holding Ripley to three points after halftime.

Chester Co. 14, TCA 10: The Eagles scored a touchdown in the fourth quarter to give themselves the late lead and eventually the win.

The Lions led in the second half 10-7, but they couldn’t score anymore after Chester County took a late lead.

Next week’s schedule

South Side vs. JCM

North Side at Liberty

Peabody at Jackson Christian

USJ at Union City

TCA at Grace-Franklin