See how our county teams did Friday with our Week 11 roundup.
Jo Byrns 14, Monterey 8
MONTEREY – The Jo Byrns football team made the long trip to Monterey pay off Friday when the Red Devils handed Wildcats a 14-8 loss to end the season on a four-game winning streak.
“This was probably our best overall game that we’ve played all season,” Jo Byrns coach Tom Adkins said. “We had to overcome a couple of injuries because our middle linebacker went out on the first play, and our quarterback didn’t play in the second half.
“That’s both of our play-callers on each side of the ball, but our guys just fought their way through and came away with the win.”
Jo Byrns will miss the playoffs, but Friday night’s win gave the Red Devils a 4-4 record in Region 5-1A and 5-5 overall.
Tyran Douglas had his best game of the season. He caught a 75-yard pass for a touchdown, intercepted a pass on defense, gathered a fumble and returned it for a 45-yard touchdown. Mikey Chennault had two rushes for 89 yards to go for over 1,000 yards for the second season in a row.
“We talked to our guys before the game, and we treated this like our senior night and playoff game because we knew that this was it for us,” Adkins said. “These guys just never gave up, and they were motivated to close the season out with a win.”
Jo Byrns got on the board first when Wyatt Green hit Douglas in stride for a 75-yard touchdown and then Chennault added the 2-point conversion to give the Red Devils an 8-0 lead.
Monterey answered and tied the game before the halftime break, but on the Wildcats’ second play of the second half, Douglas picked up the loose ball and took it 45 yards for the touchdown.
That’s all the Red Devils would need as they hung on for the 14-8 victory.
“This was a good win, but what stood out more than anything tonight was our last drive,” Adkins said. “We didn’t score on the drive, but we got the ball with 7:56 remaining in the game and held the ball for 7:55, leaving them only one second.”
Cascade 28, East Robertson 27
CROSS PLAINS – The East Robertson football team nearly pulled off the upset Friday when the Indians went for the win after their final score, but they came up just short and lost a heartbreaker 28-27.
“This one was hard to take because I really thought we had this one,” East Robertson coach Chad Broadrick said. “We’ve had three games this year where just one or two mental mistakes proved to be the difference in the game and that was the case again tonight.”
East Robertson (2-8, 1-6 4-2A) got on the board first when Robert Honeycutt was on the receiving end of a 30-yard screen pass from Cameron Swift to make it 7-0.
Cascade tied the game on the next possession, then the Indians were able to take back the lead when Honeycutt got his second touchdown of the game, this one a rush from five yards out to make it 14-7.
Swift took matters into his own hands for the next score, rambling 75 yards to give the Indians a 21-7 advantage.
Cascade returned the ensuing kickoff for a touchdown and then added another touchdown just before the break to make it 21-21 at halftime.
The Wildcats took the lead in the third quarter, going up 28-21, but East Robertson answered when Swift called his own number on the quarterback sneak from two yards out to make it 28-27.
Cascade jumped off-sides on the extra point, so Broadrick decided to go for the win and the 2-point conversion, but Cascade was able to get the stop and held on for the one-point victory.
Goodpasture 56, White House Heritage 36
MADISON – If football fans liked a back-and-forth, high-scoring football game, then Friday’s contest between White House Heritage and Goodpasture was their kind of game, according to Patriots coach Hunter Hicks.
The Cougars were able to turn it on in during the second half and came away with the 56-36 win.
“From the outset, this was a fun game to play in and be a part of, so I can only imagine what it was like from the stands,” Hicks said. “We would score and they would answer. It was just one big play after another.
“It was like two big heavy-weights just getting in the middle of the ring and slugging it out. They just got the last few blows tonight.”
Michael McEwing got the game started off the right way for Heritage, returning the opening kickoff 73 yards for the touchdown, but the Cougars answered to tie the game 7-7.
Quarterback Austin Gunter connected with receiver Nick Demarais for 26-yard touchdown, but Goodpasture again answered to tie the game 14-14.
Antoine Eddings got the next score from 12 yards out, but again, the Cougars answered tying the score 21-21.
Heritage failed to score on its next possession, but that didn’t stop Goodpasture as the Cougars again scored just before halftime, making it 28-21.
Gunter and Demarais connected for the second time in the third quarter, this time from 18 yards for the touchdown, and Tommy Baker scored from seven yards out for the final Heritage score, but the Cougars continued to hit big plays and went on for the 56-36 victory.
“I thought we had a good first half. The second half just got away from us tonight,” Hicks said. “They are a very explosive team, and we were never able to get our running game going tonight, so we weren’t able to slow the game down.
“Regardless, I’m sure it was entertaining for everyone here, I just wish we could’ve been on the other end of the score.”
Sammy Earheart looks for running room.