Newton County lost to Mize and Northeast Jones by a combined four points.
While County coach Bobby Bass was not happy about those losses, it prepared his team for Friday night’s matchup with West Lauderdale.
The Cougars scored a late touchdown to come from behind and take a 22-16 win over the Knights in a battle of division rivals.
Newton County improves to 4-3 on the season and will host Choctaw Central this week in another big division 5-4A matchup.
Bass said he was proud of the way his team played and never panicked against the Knights.
“I thought our kids played hard and I thought their kids played hard,” Bass aid. “I’m happy for our kids and our coaches. I thought the coaches did a good job to keep our kids focused and locked in. They got after us in the first half, and I give them kudos for that. I thought we came back and got after them in the second half. It was a hard-fought game on both sides. I’m just proud of how our kids handled themselves. I thought we played really well in the second half.”
West Lauderdale got the ball to start the game and went 67 yards in eight plays and scored on a 1-yard quarterback sneak. The PAT failed the Knights led 6-0.
After swapping punts, County then put together a 12-play, 84-yard drive. Tali King then hit Cam Bell on a 4-yard touchdown pass with 11:02 left in the second quarter. The PAT failed and County tied the game at 6-6.
The Knights then answered with a 56-yard run on their next play from scrimmage. The PAT was good, and the Knights held a 13-6 lead.
The Cougars threatened to score right before the half after a 28-yard run and a 49-yard pass got County to the West 3. But the Cougars were stuffed short of the goal line as the half expired as West took a 13-6 lead into the half.
County got the ball to start the second half and went on an eight-play, 52-yard drive. King hit Juan Brown on a 10-yard touchdown pass and then hit Byron Pruitt on the two-point conversion as the Cougars took a 14-13 lead.
The two teams each turned the ball over on downs as County went on a 14-play drive before giving West the ball back. The Knights went 14 plays and settled for a 32-yard field goal with 5:12 left in the game to take a 16-14 lead.
The Cougars answered with a seven-play, 55-yard drive. After a big 20-yard pass to Pruitt, King ripped off a 16-yard gainer. Pruitt then finished off the drive with a 4-yard run. Bell then scored on the two-point conversion as the Cougars took a 22-16 lead.
County then held West in four plays to take the win.
“I think some of those games earlier in the years with Mize and Northeast Jones really prepared us for tonight,” Bass said. “We have been in those late-game situations before, and I thought that showed. It’s a trial by fire we learned from those situations. You don’t ever want to lose a game, but I think winning was a culmination of losing those two games. Our kids didn’t panic when they kicked the field goal to go up. We really had some kids step up on that last drive.”
The Cougars had 376 yards of total offense with 202 yards passing and 174 yards rushing. King was 14-of-22 passing for 202 yards and two TDs. Brown led the rushing attack with 131 yards on 27 carries while Miles Mangum had 40 yards on three carries. Bell had 89 yards receiving on six catches while Pruitt had 68 yards on four catches. Kelin Johnson also had 23 yards on two catches.
Pruitt led the Cougars with eight tackles while Grant Keith had five tackles and two tackles for loss. Jacob Gilbert and Logan Evans each had four tackles while Kaleb Webster, Garrett Sessions, Kaleb Davis and Peyton Hardy each had three tackles apiece.
