When Newton County quarterback Damon Mapp went down in week five with an injury against Union, the Cougars went into a tailspin with four straight losses.
But that was a distant memory on Friday night as Mapp returned to the starting lineup and helped guide the Cougars to a last-minute win.
The Cougars went 65 yards in just four plays as Mapp hit a streaking Tyron Henderson on a 29-yard touchdown pass with 22 seconds left in the game as Newton County pulled off a last-minute comeback to take a 29-22 win over visiting Moss Point on Friday night.
The Cougars improve to 8-5 on the season and will host Lawrence County in the third round of the Class 4A playoffs next week. Lawrence County, 8-5 as well, beat Greene County 17-14 to advance.
For second-year coach Bobby Bass, it was a program-defining win over one of the state’s traditional power.
“I thought our kids executed our game plan really well, They have explosive players, there is no doubt about it. It’s just a matter of keeping them contained and for the most part we did that. I’m proud of our players, our community, our coaches. We fought our butts off. They scored and we could have hung our heads but our kids don’t do this hear any more, we just keep fighting.”
Newton County built a 10-0 lead after Donovan McCoy scored on a 10-yard run with 41 seconds left in the first half. But Moss Point answered with a quick three-play drive and went 54 yards as the Tigers scored on a 14-yard run with 18 seconds left in the first half as the Cougars led 10-6 at intermission.
The momentum swung several times in the second half as Moss Point scored on an 11-yard run with 6:32 left in the third and went up 14-10 on a two-point conversion.
But Newton County answered right back as Carlois Walker scored on a 37-yard run with 3:39 left in the third to cap off a five-play, 55-yard drive. The try for two failed and County led 16-14.
The score stayed there until early in the fourth quarter when Moss Point pulled off a double pass for a 46-yard touchdown with 9:50 left in the game. The try for two was good and the Tigers led 22-16.
After swapping punts, Newton County put together big drive, all on the ground as they went 74 yards in nine plays as Walker scored on an 8-yard touchdown run with 2:49 left in the game. But Lee Hill’s PAT failed to leave the game tied at 22-22.
That’s when Bass kept a promise to his team and his assistant coaches.
“I told (Coach Rob Roberts) to go win it,” Bass said. “We aren’t leaving any bullets in the gun. I told them before the game that we weren’t going to leave any bullets in the gun. I told our players that, that was my pre-game speech. I told them we were going to shoot as many bullets as they would give us. As long as we can keep shooting, we were going to keep shooting and that’s what we did.”
The Cougars got the ball back with 58 seconds left to play, giving quarterback Damon Mapp a shot. After an incompletion on first down, Mapp hit Donavon McCoy on a 45-yard pass to put Newton County at the Moss Point 30. Two plays later, Mapp hit Henderson on a 29-yard touchdown pass with 22 seconds left for the game win. Hill’s PAT gave County a 29-22 lead.
Bass said he extremely proud of his quarterback, who had been out since the Union game in the fifth game of the season.
“We got our quarterback back,” Bass said. “I’m so happy for him. It crushed him when he got hurt and couldn’t play. I know he’s excited and I’m excited for him. I know he’s excited to get back out here and play. He’s the heart and soul of our team, no doubt about it. These kids respect and love him.”
The Cougars had 429 yards of offense as Mapp was 6-of-13 passing for 125 yards. Carlois Walker had 129 yards on 22 carries while Carlonte Walker had 116 yards on 10 carries. Donovan McCoy had 41 yards receiving on two carries while Carlonte Walker had 21 yards on two catches. Carlois Walker and Henderson each had one catch for 29 yards.
On defense, Colin Crowder had 15 tackles to lead the defense while Cam McDonald had nine catches. Miquel Evans and Christian McGee each had seven tackles while Tylan McNichols had seven stops. Koye Hardaway also had an interception and five tackles.
This week’s game
The Cougars will host another playoff game this week as they host Lawrence County.
Lawrence County is also 8-5 on the season. They have losses to Pearl River Central (42-21), Jefferson Davis County (40-6), Columbia (20-13), South Pike (38-7), and Lanier (22-6). They have wins over Hazlehurst (19-18), Brookhaven (42-28), Wesson (57-30), Raymond (58-6), North Pike (42-21), McComb (20-13), Mendenhall (55-19) and Greene County (17-14).
“They only run about four plays on offense but they are good at them,” Bass said. “They are going to run buck sweep about every way you can run it. We are going to have to be disciplined on defense. We are going to have to have some role players this week. They are going to have to don their role and not be heroes. We are going to have to be disciplined and sound on defense. Their main running back has rushed for over 1,900 yards and is really quick. He’s not that big but he’s fast.”
Lawrence County is led by senior running back Kylan Cooper who has 1,923 yards on 204 carries and 23 TDs.
