Morgan Co. 44, Jackson Co. 28: Panthers denied no. 3 seed for state

The Panthers came out of the gate swinging.

Junior Xavier Harper — who finished with a school record 15 receptions on the night —got a great return off the opening kickoff and took it to their own 32.

Then senior quarterback Kyle Daniel took over the drive. He went 5-of-7 for 33 yards marching the Panthers to the Bulldog 11. Their efforts were not enough as they missed a 21-yard field goal.

After the field goal, the Panther defense came through with a quick three and out to put the offense back on to the field.

Similar to the last drive, the Panthers moved down the field and Daniel was picking apart the secondary, completing five straight passes. But like the last drive they were faced with another fourth down.

With 2:39 left in the first, fourth and four on the Morgan County 22, Daniel dropped back to pass and threw an interception to senior bulldog defensive back, Michael Gray. Gray returned interception to the end zone to give Morgan County a 7-0 lead.

Pandemonium in the Dog Pound.

The Bulldogs would not back off. They utilized their ground game in the second quarter. In the beginning, they scampered for a big runs that would result in a touchdown by senior Andrew Couch to give Morgan County a 14-0 lead.

But the Panthers were not ready to throw in the towel just yet.

On the ensuing kickoff, Harper broke away and took the pigskin to midfield giving the Panthers fantastic field position. Daniel threw a bomb to junior receiver Ben Brissy for a 48-yard gain. That would lead to a quick screen pass to Harper to finish the drive to pull the Panthers within a score at 14-7. Harper finished with 135 yards receiving.

Then Morgan County got a quick touchdown of a “hail mary” like pass to jump back up by two scores to close out the first half with a 21-7 lead.

“We just did not make big plays when we needed to,” Panther coach Benji Harrison said.

The second half was all Morgan County.

The first two drives for the Bulldogs resulted in two quick scores. Their first drive was two big runs by junior Marquis Benton and Couch.

But even with Morgan County ravaging the Panthers, they never gave up.

They managed to put up 21 points, forced two fumbles and a blocked punt. Their running came alive with three rushing scores by seniors Dustin Scott and Daivon Ledford.

Despite the loss, coach Harrison was still pleased with the team’s effort.

“We never gave up but we lost to a great football team,” Harrison said.