USJ, JCM both stay unbeaten with wins in Gibson Co.

Emotions were as high as the drama in University School of Jackson’s 13-10 overtime win at South Gibson on Friday.

The Hornet defense solved the Noah Spencer puzzle, holding him to 35 yards on 12 carries – by far his lowest total of the season.

The Bruins’ passing game took a hit when quarterback Corben Howard was knocked out of the game in the second quarter when he took a hard hit to the head. USJ’s coaching staff wanted a targeting call on the play.

“We’re going to get Corben checked out because no one on our sideline is qualified to make a diagnosis,” said USJ head coach Derrick Pritchard. “But we knew he didn’t need to go back in after taking that hit.

“Cayden Creech came in during a tense time, needed a few throws to settle into the game, but once he did, he did a great job of leading our offense in a tight situation.”

Creech completed 11 of 19 passes for 128 yards and a touchdown. A lot of his incompletions came right after he entered the game.

“A young guy who’s never played a snap with the game on the line, we wanted to get him some throws to speed up his getting used to the game and it slowing down for him,” Pritchard said. “And once it did, he was able to make some plays.”

South Gibson scored the first touchdown on the game’s opening drive. After that, the game was mainly a field position battle as the Bruins seemed to come out flat on both sides of the ball. Their defense tightened things up after allowing the Hornets to move the ball early.

But after Howard took his hit, Pritchard had a lengthy conversation with the officials wanting to know why a flag wasn’t thrown for targeting. When the officials threw a flag on him, the personality on the Bruins’ sideline changed as they seemingly went into battle mode.

South Gibson was able to get a field goal right before half for a 10-0 lead at intermission. USJ moved the ball close enough for Cooper Sikes to make it a one-score game in the third quarter with a field goal.

Early in the fourth, Spencer finally broke free for an explosive play – a 48-yard touchdown pass where he caught it from Creech in short-yardage, avoided a couple of Hornet tacklers and made it to the end zone for the tie game.

South Gibson had a chance to win late when they went for it on fourth-and-goal with about two minutes to play, but the USJ defense knocked down a jump pass in the end zone.

In overtime, South Gibson had to kick a field goal that went wide right.

Then three plays later, USJ called on Sikes again. And from 31 yards out, Sikes’ foot kept USJ undefeated going into region play next week.

“I know this game doesn’t mean anything toward our bigger goals that we have, but this will be a game those guys will remember for the rest of their lives,” Pritchard said. “To fight as hard as they did, to overcome themselves because I knew in warm-ups we’d have difficulties not playing flat – and everything we dealt with tonight, these guys will never forget winning this game.”

JCM 48, Milan 37: The Cougars pulled off one of the big upsets in the region – possibly the state – on Friday when winning this battle of unbeatens.

The game was tied at 20-20 at halftime, and the second half was a back-and-forth battle that saw the Cougars finally go up two scores to keep the lead.

Terrell Williams connected with Brian McKnight for a touchdown and a 27-26 lead halfway through the third quarter.

Williams connected to Michael Massey for the 33-32 lead early in the fourth.

Williams then connected with Jaylan Young for a 40-32 lead with 6:40 left in the game.

After Milan scored again, Williams and Young connected for another score with three minutes left for the final margin of the night.

The win makes JCM 4-0 overall and 2-0 in Region 6-2A play.

North Side 42, Hardin Co. 7: The Indians made another statement with their fourth straight win and second in Region 6-4A play.

The Tigers scored first in the final minute of the first quarter and North Side took over in the second with three touchdowns.

They scored three more touchdowns in the third quarter for the 35-point lead and the mercy rule running clock that allowed North Side to get on the buses a little quicker and make the joyful bus ride home after the win in Savannah.

Jackson Christian 48, Fayette Aca. 14: The Eagles led 21-14 at halftime, and they took over on both sides of the ball after that.

Jackson Christian scored 27 points in the second half while holding the Vikings to no points in the same time.

The scored a couple of touchdowns in the third quarter to pull away to the big league and simply built on it with two more scores in the fourth qurter.

TCA 54, Manassas 0: The Lions had a big win at home in which they dominated in all phases of the game and got the game over quickly with the running clock.

Chester Co. 35, South Side 14: The Hawks matched the Eagles in the first half, but Chester County took over after halftime and ran away with the Region 6-4A win.

Ripley 42, Liberty 0: The Crusaders’ struggled at the Tigers’ Tiny Knee Stadium as Ripley rolled to a Region 7-3A victory.

Brandon Shields, brandon@jacksonpost.news