Newton County survives to play North Pike
For the second straight week, the Newton County Cougars were trailing at halftime.
And for the second straight week, the Cougars used a big second half to take as win as they beat visiting Purvis 23-14 in the first round of the Class 4A playoffs on Friday night.
The Cougars improved 9-0 on the season and will hit the road as they take on North Pike at Southwest Community College on Friday night.
The Cougars followed a familiar formula as they took down a solid Purvis team.
“I guess it really doesn’t matter what the score is, you just have to survive and advance at this point and roll with it,” coach Bobby Bass said. “We didn’t make any major adjustments in the second half, just played with more effort. Watching Hudl on the sideline, you could see people who weren’t going full speed. I thought we picked up our effort and played harder in the second half. Ultimately, that’s what got the defense off the field in the second half.”
It looked like the Cougars were going to run away with the game as they quickly went 56 yards in three plays, capping off the drive as Damon Mapp hit Tyron Henderson on a 38-yard touchdown pass. Lee Hill booted the PAT and County led 7-0 early in the first quarter.
But the Tornadoes answered as they went 65 yards in eight plays, scoring on a 7-yard run. The PAT was good, and Purvis tied the score at 7-7.
The Cougars went three and out on their only other two possessions of the first half while Purvis kept the ball the majority of the half. The first long drive was a 16-play drive that ended on the Newton County 22 after turning the ball over on downs. The second drive was a 10-play, 49-yard drive that ended with a 15-yard touchdown. The PAT was good, and Purvis led 14-7 at the half.
“They are a ball-control team and showed that in the first half,” Bass said. “We had the ball four times and just couldn’t get them off the field. If they get it past the 50, they don’t punt. We shot ourselves in the foot in the first half, whether it was a penalty or missed tackle. They made some exceptional plays throwing the ball and we have to do a better job of that next week if we are going to advance.”
The Cougars got a big break to open the third quarter when Purvis went to punt but a bad snap on the punt forced the punter to run. Jamario Ickom made the tackle to give Newton County the ball at the Purvis 18. County had to settle for a 32-yard field goal by Hill to cut the lead to 14-10.
After forcing a Purvis punt the Cougars hit a big play as Mapp hit Henderson on a 72-yard touchdown pass. Hill booted the PAT and County took a 17-14 lead.
County’s last touchdown came in the fourth quarter when Carlois Walker scored on a 74-yard touchdown run to cap off a five-play, 85-yard drive. The PAT failed and County led 23-14.
On offense, the Cougars had 364 yards. Mapp was 5-of-8 for 139 yards and two TDs. The Cougars rushed for 225 yards with Walker rushing for 200 yards on 19 carries. Henderson had two catches for 111 yards while Carlonte Walker had three catches for 28 yards. Deyvon May had three carries for 27 yards.
On defense, Colin Crowder had 12 solo tackles, six assists and one tackle for loss while Kaleb Blackwell had 10 solo tackles and four assists. Cam McDonald had nine tackles, three tackles for loss, one sack and one assist. Miguel Evans had six slot tackles and three assists while Hayze West and Tylan McNichols each had four solo tackles and three assists.
