Northridge Edges McAdory in Regional Thriller
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The Northridge Jaguars (4-2, 3-1) narrowly defeated the McAdory Yellow Jackets (4-2, 3-1) 21-14 in a regional thriller for homecoming.
"I thought it was a fierce competitors showing a willingness to keep fighting to get what they want. We had opportunities, you know, we got down early. We kept fighting, just kept working and just proud of their resilience. We talked about potential and production. So let's say we had the potential, tonight you saw the production. This is only the beginning we're gonna get better. We're gonna work harder," said Northridge head coach Ryan Lolley.
McAdory got on the board first, scoring two touchdowns on its first two drives of the game. The first score was a four-yard run by quarterback Jacob Clopton and the second was a five-yard run by running back Peyton Ryans.
During the two explosive possessions, Clopton went a perfect 7-of-7 for 59 yards and 2 runs for 13 yards on top of his touchdown run.
The Jaguars had two three-and-outs on its first two drives, however, an eruptive two-snap possession put Northridge on the board on its third drive of the game. Quarterback Rowdy Christensen threw a 78-yard pass to wide receiver Taylor Halperin, then running back Toryion Spears ran in the two-yard touchdown.
Northridge had a chance to tie up the ballgame prior to halftime, but a fumble at the Yellow Jackets one-yard line turned the ball over to McAdory. The Jaguars defense held up and forced a McAdory punt, keeping the Jaguars lead at seven heading into the break.
The Jaguars defense rattled McAdory right out of halftime as defensive back Alex Wallace recovered a lateral pass for Northridge, putting the Jaguars in the red zone. Northridge capitalized off the Yellow Jackets mistake and scored on a seven-yard pass to wide receiver Sperry Ball to tie up the ballgame at 14.
Both defenses held their ground down the stretch. Northridge forced two punts and defensive back Kollyn Shellnut recorded an interception. The Yellow Jackets defense forced a turnover on downs on the goal line and a punt to keep the game knotted up.
That was until Northridge's last drive of the game. The Jaguars ran down the field and running back TJ Banks scored the game-winning touchdown with 53 seconds left in the game. McAdory attempted to go down the field, but five incompletions on the final drive sealed the victory for the Jaguars.
"We just, you know, a couple of times had some turnovers on offense, turned guys loose in the secondary when we should've been playing man coverage. We just got to clean up the mistakes. We kind of, I think, the emotions kind of got the best of us a little bit. So we got to get back and try to get back to work," said McAdory head coach Aryvia Holmes.
Next week, Northridge travels to Central (1-6, 1-3) and McAdory travels to Hueytown (3-3, 3-1). Both kickoffs are set for 7 p.m. CT.