Huge fourth quarter lifts Minor over Patriots
ADAMSVILLE -- The Homewood High School football team had the region champs on the ropes, but couldn’t seal the deal.
Homewood (5-6) held a nine-point edge before Minor -- unbeaten in Class 6A, Region 6 -- ripped off 30 unanswered fourth quarter points to wrap up a 42-21 win in the first round of the Class 6A state playoffs on Friday night at Tony Lunceford Field.
“Our kids played hard tonight,” Homewood head coach Ben Berguson said, whose team secured the No. 4 seed from Region 5. “We made a couple mistakes late and they capitalized on them.”
On the third play of the final quarter, Minor faced a fourth-and-nine at the 43-yard line. Quarterback Jacure’ Jackson threw a short slip screen to the right for dynamic athlete Jaylond Adams, who weaved in and around defenders and blazed a trail to the end zone, cutting Homewood’s lead to 21-18 at the time.
Minor (10-1) got the ball right back after Larkin Williams was intercepted and the ball was returned to the five-yard line. A block-in-the-back penalty derailed the drive, and the Tenacious Tigers turned it over on downs.
Homewood could not move the ball over its next three plays, and punter Joseph Molstead intentionally stepped out of the back of the end zone for a safety. The Patriots still led 21-20 midway through the period, and didn’t want to risk giving Minor great field position.
However, Minor wasted no time taking the lead for good, as Jackson connected with DeAndre Charleston for a 35-yard score and a 28-21 Tiger lead after the first successful two-point conversion of the evening.
“I thought we played with great effort tonight,” Berguson said. “It’s a shame. There were different times I thought we could’ve put it away.”
The Patriots fumbled on the ensuing drive and Adams scored once more. A pick-six by Minor’s NiJiel Broom in the final minute made the score look more lopsided than the game was played.
Minor head coach George Bates was pleased with the way his team responded in the fourth quarter.
“The last three games, we’ve kind of been in a lull. My mentor told me, ‘I’ll take an ugly win over a pretty loss any day.’ We’ll take it,” he said.
As much as Minor owned the fourth quarter, Homewood dominated the third. The Patriots burst out of the halftime break with a 63-yard touchdown pass from Larkin Williams to Bailey Lapinsky, who made a man miss and outran the defense to the end zone.
The score put the Patriots ahead 14-12, and Bates literally walked his Minor defense back to the locker room.
“It wasn’t emotional,” Bates said. “There wasn’t any yelling and screaming going on…They decided we were going to play the scheme the right way.”
Ty Hatcher found Austin Spiers wide open for a 30-yard score later in the period to put the Patriots ahead by nine.
Minor’s offense did not struggle finding big plays, but several times followed up a big play with a crucial penalty or a wild snap that sailed over Jackson’s head.
Jackson let his athletes on the perimeter carry the load, dumping short passes to Adams and Delonte’ Evans all evening and sprinkling in the deep shots. He finished 20-of-33 passing for 364 and three touchdowns, one each to Adams, Charleston and Evans.
Adams paced the Tigers with nearly 200 total yards and added a rushing score late in the game. Evans finished with 146 receiving yards on five grabs.
Hatcher completed 9-of-15 throws for the Patriots for 108 yards and the pair of scores. Nick McCoy led Homewood on the ground with 32 yards on 11 carries.
"Last week, we played our most complete game of the season (in a 41-14 win over Paul Bryant). I thought we were hot right then, and I knew it would carry over this week. The mistakes down the stretch got us,” Berguson said.