It may not have been a win, but on Friday night, the Jackson County Panthers came oh so close.
A strong defense and effective offense kept the Panthers in the game, but a missed extra point foiled what could have been the Panthers first win since September 18.
But the Blue Devils of Elbert County held on to a one-point lead to win, 28-27.
With their last home game of the season now behind them, the Panthers now look towards their final two games of the season and a chance to nail that elusive first region win of 2009.
Their next chance comes Friday at Oconee County, as Jackson County will face the Warriors in Watkinsville.
Oconee County has had their own woes this season, going 1-4 in the region and 1-7 overall. They will enter Friday’s game off of a 44-0 loss to Eastside.
Credit Jackson County with the edge going into Friday night. The Panthers have scored 147 points so far this season, an average of 18.4 per game. That’s almost double that of Oconee County, who has put only 74 points on the board in 2009, an average of 9.3 per game.
Jackson County has allowed 184 points to be scored against them this year, an average of 23 points per game. The Warriors have allowed 236 points to be scored against them, an average of 29.5 per game.
Oconee County dominated the Panthers in their last meeting, winning 44-17 back on Halloween in 2008.
Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
Elbert Co.
It was senior night at Panther Stadium, and the Jackson County faithful were hoping to send their seniors off in a big way by picking up the team’s first region victory since 2006.
Panthers got on the board first just over two minutes into the game, when Charles Smothers scored on a 13-yard run to put Jackson County on the board. A successful extra point gave the Panthers a 7-0 advantage.
But fate and Elbert County’s defense intervened when an interception on a throw from Panthers quarterback Jalen Banks gave the Blue Devils a chance to run the ball back for a 34-yard touchdown, making it a 7-7 game.
Jackson County wasn’t going to give up, and moments later, the Panthers worked their way back up the field. Michael Pesaresi found the Elbert County end zone on a two-yard run. The successful extra point gave the Panthers a 14-7 lead.
From there, the fight was on. Jackson County’s defense stepped up to the plate, showing the kind of intensity that had been seen earlier in the season.
Trey Pettyjohn got a big third down sack of the Blue Devils’ quarterback. Cody Atkins then pressured the quarterback on the ensuing fourth down, forcing an incomplete pass to open the door for Jackson County.
Problems began to crop up for the Panthers in the third quarter. A missed 33-yard field goal could have made all the difference for Jackson County, while the Blue Devils took the lead in the game on an 82-yard touchdown run with just over five and a half minutes left in the quarter.
On the next drive, the Panthers failed to convert on fourth down, killing a strong drive, and would continue to trail in the fourth.
The Panthers closed in late in the game. Pesaresi scored the final Jackson County touchdown from one yard out to move the Panthers to within a point of tying the game.
But the missed extra point cost the Panthers the chance, as Elbert County went on to win 28-27.
For more on this story, see Wednesday's edition of The Jackson Herald or The Braselton News.
