The Trojans of Magee traveled to play one of the few games in the area on Friday night against the Jaguars of Jefferson Davis County. Many local schools had pushed their games up to Thursday evening in order to play in drier conditions, as rain was predicted Friday the majority of the day. This actually played to the Jaguars’ advantage, as JDC is notably a ground and pound offense that focuses on misdirection out of the backfield and speedy backs that rotate every few plays. Magee, however, is more offensively diverse, with a more balanced run to pass ratio, leaning more towards an aerial attack which typically does not fly well in wet conditions.
As expected, rain poured the majority of the day, breaking slightly just before kickoff before beginning to drizzle sporadically throughout the first half of the ball game. Both teams had early struggles moving the ball, as ball security was paramount in the conditions. After a scoreless first quarter that saw both teams feeling each other out as they traded punts, the Magee offense awoke in the second quarter for a flurry of points. The Trojans took over at their own 10 after forcing the end of a promising Jag drive that sputtered out of steam on the Magee side of the field. QB Chandler Pittman attempted to make something out of nothing on the first play of the drive. After the JDC defensive line flushed him from the pocket, Pittman scurried, preventing the sack while directing receivers and nearly connecting with Matthew Thurman for a first down. Unfortunately, the Pittman throw on the run came up just short of the diving Thurman, setting up 2nd and 10. Pittman faked a handoff to Jawon Shaw and kept around the left side on a read option that ended in a 38-yard run by the quarterback to move the Trojans well out of the shadow of their own goal line and out to midfield. Keeping the ball on the ground, Shaw churned out a 4-yard gain before Pittman hit Xavier Franks on a quick pass that netted 15-yards, marching the Trojans into Jaguar territory. Pittman again turned to Franks, this time on a fade pass that ended with the wideout getting inside of the defender to make a leaping catch at the JDC 15. After an incomplete pass intended for Josh Sanders was batted down in the endzone, Shaw kept his footing for a 2-yard gain to set up 3rd and 8 at the Jaguar 11. Pittman dropped back and faked the pass over the middle before tucking and running through a hole wide enough to drive a car up the middle for an 11-yard touchdown to break the ice and give Magee a 7-0 lead early in the second quarter. After nailing the point after, Sam Rials drilled the ensuing kickoff into the endzone for a touchback, setting Jefferson Davis up at their own 20. The drive nearly ended in one play, after DeMario Booth broke away from the Trojan defense for a 55-yard run to move into Magee territory. The Jags again turned to D. Booth on the next two plays for a pair of 3-yard runs that set up 3rd and 4. After being stopped a yard short on 3rd down, JDC turned to Stephen Pittman, who peeled off a 17-yard gain to give the Jags a new set of downs. Keeping the ground game rolling, Kyser Booth picked up 7-yards to move into the Magee redzone. After chopping the outside linebacker the majority of the night, it was finally called following an 8-yard run, pushing the Jags back to the Trojan 30. JDC then used a little trickeration to put points on the board. Booth took the handoff and headed towards the right side of the line, where he subtly tossed the ball to Darrius Berry on a tightly run reverse that ended with Berry scurrying 30-yards for the score. After a missed PAT, Magee remained in the lead 7-6 with 6:14 in the first half.
After trading punts in the first quarter, both teams opened the second with an exchange of touchdowns to finally open the scoring. Magee looked to respond after surrendering a long drive to the Jags. Cayden Bridges took the kickoff out to midfield, giving the Trojans great starting field position. Shaw started the drive with a 3-yard run, followed by a 3-yard run by Pittman to set up 3rd and 4. Pittman then picked up 5-yards on a quarterback sweep that ended with Pittman being grabbed by his shoulder pads and dragged by Bridges. Unfortunately, players are only allowed to push teammates, not pull them, thus negating the run and forcing a repeat of the down and distance. Pittman then found Sanders, who was lost by the JDC defense on a seam route run straight up the middle of the Jags defense for a 45-yard score. Pittman was flagged after the play for a questionable unsportsmanlike conduct for celebrating after the play. The yardage was tacked on to the extra point, which was called "no good" despite one of the referees telling a coach it went over the left upright (which means it was good). Needless to say, some very questionable calls were being made, or not made, by this set of officials. After the "missed" PAT, Magee now held a 13-6 lead with 4:32 remaining until halftime. JDC looked to respond again to a Magee touchdown with one of their own.
Taking over at their own 20 after another Rials' touchback, JDC turned to K. Booth, who began getting chunks of yards early in the drive. K. Booth started the drive with three straight runs for 3, 4, and 39-yards to move into Magee territory. After a false start moved the Jags back 5-yards to set up 1st and 15, D. Booth picked up 3-yards followed by an offside penalty on Magee to set up 2nd and 7. A rare pass from Dedarian Alexander picked up only 2 yards; Sanders busted into the backfield to blow up the sweep to K. Booth for an 8-yard loss to put the Jags into a 4th and 15 situation. The snap then went through the hands of Berry, who was tackled by Steven Durr and Jameyian Spencer back at the JDC 20 to give Magee the ball inside the Jag redzone. With :30 remaining in the half, the Trojans had a golden opportunity to put up another touchdown before the half. Shaw got the drive started with a 2-yard run, followed by a 15-yard run by Pittman down to the JDC 3.
Enter the officiating crew, yet again influencing the game. After scurrying up to the line and spiking the ball, a penalty was called on the Jags for being offsides. This rendered the spike moot and started the game clock running from :15 down to :09. The Trojans appeared to have overcome this hurdle as Pittman connected with Franks for a touchdown on a slant, but again the referees enter the fray with an “illegal man down field” call on Magee. The snap took place at the JDC 3, but no explanation was provided on who the illegal man downfield was and how he was not told to move into legal positioning by a referee as standard, so the points were taken off the board by yet another officials’ call that went against the Trojans. Magee was forced to send out Rials for a 30-yard field goal which was accurately called good by the officials since it was between the two uprights, giving Magee a 16-6 lead at the half.
Magee got the second half underway kicking off to K. Booth, who initially dropped the ball before breaking off a 37-yard return to the JDC 47. Magee then gifted the Jags 5-yards with an illegal participation penalty to give JDC 1st and 5. Jamaal Dinkins busted through the JDC line to drag down K. Booth for a loss of a yard. The Jags again turned to K. Booth, who picked up 6-yards on a sweep to move the chains. After a short run on 1st, Zyrus Craft dragged down D. Booth after a gain of 4-yards to set up 3rd and 4. K. Booth then tore off a long 40-yard run to pull the Jags within 4, making the score 16-12 Magee with 9:35 remaining in the 3rd quarter of play. The Trojans were unable to respond on the following drive, after coming up just short on 4th down as the officials were seen to have respotted the ball half a yard short after Shaw appeared to have reached the yard to gain. The suddenly red hot Jaguar offence took the field at their own 23. K. Booth got the drive started with a bang as he broke off runs for 14, 40, and 24 to move deep into Magee territory. K. Booth then picked up a short gain where he was met by S. Durr, who stripped the ball and started downfield.
At no point did a whistle get blown on the run or K. Booth's feet stop moving forward, until the ball started in the opposite directions in the hands of Steven Durr, who was at the Magee 40 when the play was blown dead with "forward progress stopped" despite the runner still moving forward. The referees again made a crucial call that kept Magee points off the board. The Jags went right back to K. Booth as he picked up 10-yards before pushing it in for the go ahead score followed by a successful 2-pt conversion that gave the Jags a 18-16 lead with 4:27 remaining in the 3rd.
For the majority of the 4th, Magee became one-dimensional, passing the ball nearly every down in the sloppy conditions. When the Jags got the ball, they were content to play keep away and milk the clock as they nursed the lead. In the final two minutes of the game, chaos temporally broke out as a flurry of turnovers occurred. Magee turned the ball over on downs at midfield. On the first play of the JDC drive, Jody Durr stood up and stripped K. Booth (who's forward progress was not stopped apparently this time) and Sanders picked up the ball and made it down to the Jag 6, where he barely stepped out of bounds. With the ball in prime scoring position and only needing a field goal to win, the Trojans took the field. In recent drives, Magee and JDC had both experienced issues maintaining control of the ball and safely snapping it. Rather than going under center and attempting to make the center-quarterback exchange less dangerous, Magee set up in shotgun formation. The slick ball was snapped over Pittman's head, who as most playmakers would do, attempted to pick the ball up rather than fall on it at the 15. The ball squirted out of Pittman's hands and into the arms of a JDC defender, icing the game for the Jags and giving the Trojans their second district loss with a 18-16 final score.
After the loss, the Trojans’ hopes for a district championship are over. They can do no better than the #3 seed and no worse than the #4 seed entering the playoffs. In order to solidify the #3 seed, Magee must rise from the mud, clean themselves off (physically and mentally) after the tough loss, and focus on defeating a Columbia team that has met little resistance throughout the season. Come out to support the Trojans Friday night for Senior Night as they look to do what has not been done this season and knock off the 9-0 Columbia Wildcats.
