The Jackson County Panthers continue to look for traction in region play. After opening the season with three consecutive victories that saw them amass 99 total points, the Panthers haven’t won since they began region play on Sept. 25, and have scored only 21 points.
The latest loss came Friday as Jackson County fell to the Lions of Franklin County, 42-7.
Their next attempt to pick up a region win will be a tough one, as the Panthers will play host to the Eastside Eagles Friday night.
The Eagles come into Friday off of a 48-20 win over Hart County, and are undefeated thus far in region play, a feat matched only by Franklin County.
Going into Friday night’s game, Eastside has scored a total of 135 points over the course of the season, an average of 22.5 per game, while the Panthers have scored 120, an average of 20 points per game.
The Eagles have done an efficient job of keeping their opponents out of the end zone, allowing 89 points to be scored against them so far this year, an average of 14.8. Jackson County has allowed 108 points to be scored against them, an average of 18 points per game.
Last year, Eastside recorded a lopsided 50-0 win over the Panthers. Jackson County’s last victory over Eastside came back in 2005, when they won 20-13.
Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
Franklin County
The Panthers traveled to Carnesville Friday night hoping to reverse their fortunes and record their first region win of the year.
The Lions took control of the game by scoring first, then running the score up 14-0 by the second quarter.
The Panthers began trying to work their way back into contention, and moved themselves into position to score in the second quarter. Quarterback Jalen Banks, in for an ailing Alex Crawford, sent a 15-yard pass to Charlie Waycaster to put the Panthers’ first points on the board. With the successful extra point, the Panthers were within striking distance, trailing 14-7.
Franklin County responded by again breaking into the Panthers’ end zone, moving their lead out to a 21-7 advantage.
The Lions would dominate in the second half, adding another 14 points to their lead in the third quarter, and keeping Jackson County out of their end zone to take the 42-7 victory.
“We went out and thought we were going to match up a little better,” said coach Billy Kirk. “Franklin County has drastically improved over a year ago, and we didn’t play very well, frankly, on defense and offense. We struggled, and really couldn’t get anything going. That turns into what it is.
“We didn’t complete and do what we needed to do, period.”
For more on this story, see Wednesday's edition of The Jackson Herald or The Banks County News.
