Newton County’s perfect season came to an abrupt end on Friday night.
In a back-and-forth contest, the Cougars fell 31-28 to North Pike in the second round of the Class 4A playoffs.
Newton County finished the season with a 9-1 record.
It was a tough loss for the Cougars and coach Bobby Bass.
“Our kids fought hard, they fought the entire game, regardless of the circumstances,” Bass said. “It’s hard for them to reflect on but to have an undefeated regular season and win a district championship from where we came from, that’s a great season. Expectations have been raised to a whole new standard now. They go out and expect to win and that’s a huge step here.”
The Cougars started well when Tyron Henderson intercepted a pass on the first play of the game.
The Cougars then went 77 yards in one play as Carlois Walker scored on a 13-yard run. Lee Hill hit the PAT and County led 7-0 early in the first quarter.
The two teams then traded long drives as North Pike went 10 plays but fumbled into the end zone where Josh Blalock recovered for Newton County. The Cougars then went nine plays and turned the ball over on downs at the North Pike 8.
“We had some opportunities to put some distance between us but couldn’t convert,” Bass said. “They are a really good football team and they are really explosive on offense. We had some untimely penalties that really hurt us as well.”
North Pike then went 92 yards in seven plays and scored on a 1-yard touchdown run to tie the game at 7-7.
The Cougars answered with a quick strike as Walker scored on an 80-yard run with 9:48 left in the first half. Hill’s PAT was good, and County led 14-7.
North Pike responded with a 13-play drive and scored on a 1-yard run to tie the game at 14-14. The Jaguars hit a 23-yard field goal before the half and led 17-14 at the half.
“They were so explosive on offense that we did some things that we don’t normally do on defense,” Bass said. “We played some guys back and tried to keep everything in front of us. They had run by people all year long.”
County took the lead back on its second possession of the third when Walker capped off a nine-play, 53-yard drive with a 13-yard touchdown run as County led 21-17.
North Pike quickly went 64 yards in four plays. After a big 46-yard run, the Jaguars scored on a 4-yard run with 4:10 left to retake the lead at 24-21.
The Cougars then went 67 yards in six plays as Damon Mapp scored on a 1-yard quarterback sneak. Hill’s PAT was good, and County led 28-24 late in the third quarter.
North Pike then answered with an 80-yard run as they drove 16 plays and scored on a 4-yard run to go up 31-28.
County was unable to score after Walker got hurt and Devyon May also went down with injuries.
“It just wasn’t meant to be,” Bass said. “When we lost both of our running backs, we struggled. Then we put in a ninth grader and he fumbled. I told the kids earlier this week that if you look at a close game, it’s usually four or five key plays that determine who wins the game. They made those plays and we didn’t.”
The Cougars finished with 405 yards of total offense with 297 yards rushing while Mapp was 8-of-13 passing for 108 yards. Walker finished with 238 yards on 21 carries. Devyon May had 59 yards rushing on seven carries. Henderson had 66 yards receiving on four carries.
On defense, Colin Crowder had 13 solo tackles and four assists while Cam McDonald had seven solo tackles and four assists. Tylan McNichols had seven tackles and three assists while Grey Hale had seven solo tackles and two assists. Henderson had six solo tackles, three assists and one interception. Kaleb Blackwell had five solo tackles and two assists while Josh Blalock had four solo tackles, three assists and a fumble recovery. Kyle Garrison also had three solo tackles, two assists and one fumble recovery as well for the Cougars.
