Mars Hill’s rally deals blow to Scottsboro’s chances of being 5A … – Jackson County Sentinel

In a heavyweight fight, it was Mars Hill that landed the final punch.

The Class 3A No. 4-ranked Panthers scored a late touchdown and took the lead on a 2-point conversion with 2:42 remaining, then came up with a defensive stand to down host Scottsboro Friday night at Trammell Stadium.

The loss dealt a big blow to Scottsboros chances of being the No. 1 playoff seed from Class 5A Region 7. The Wildcats, who will share the region title with Guntersville and Arab after they all finished 4-1 in region play, will likely be the No. 2 seed when the playoffs begin in two weeks.

Its a tough loss, said Scottsboro head coach Cris Bell. I hate if for our kids. I thought our kids played hard, played their guys out. They made a couple of plays at the end and we didnt. We just came up short.

Scottsboro (7-2) scored on all three of its first-half possessions on drives that covered 59, 74 ans 65 yards. Jake Jones scored the Wildcats first touchdown on a 4-yard touchdown run, and Cole Raeuchle kicked the first of his five PATs for a 7-0 Scottsboro lead.

Mars Hill (9-1) responded with a 12-play, 80-yard drive capped by Skyler Sterlings 18-yard touchdown run, to tie the score at 7-all midway through the first quarter, but Scottsboro moved back in front 14-7 on Jones 7-yard touchdown pass to Kyle Wright. Mars Hill tied the game three plays later on Griffin Hensons 55-yard touchdown pass to Jackson Tingle, but Scottsboro used a 13-play, 64-yard drive that took 7:45 off the clock to regain the lead at 21-14 on Jones 7-yard touchdown run on a fourth-and-2 play.

Mars Hill missed a 37-yard field goal on the final play of the first half, but the Panthers tied the game at 21-all midway through the third quarter on JB Owens 2-yard touchdown run. Scottsboro answered with Jayden Gilberts 3-yard touchdown to that put Wildcats in front 28-21 with 3:31 left in the third quarter.

The Wildcats defense then forced a Mars Hill punt and were driving midway through the fourth quarter when a Panthers forced a fumble on an option play and Caden Chandler scooped it up and returned it 56 yards to tie the game with 6:06 remaining.

But Scottsboro followed with a big play of its own, as JC Heikinen field an onside kick and broke through the Mars Hill return team to go 50 yards for a touchdown, and Raeuchles PAT gave the Wildcats a 35-28 lead.

Mars Hill then drove 80 yards on seven plays, pulling within 35-34 on Jay Dobbs 3-yard touchdown run with 2:42 left. The Panthers then grabbed a 36-35 lead when Owens powered his way in for the 2-point conversion.

Scottsboros next possession started at its own 31 and produced a first down on the first play, but a loss of 1 on a run play and two straight incompletions set up fourth-and 11th, and Jones was sacked on the play to turn the ball over on downs to the Panthers, who were able to kneel out the clock.

Jacobi Edmondson let the Wildcats with 116 yards rushing on 17 carries while Keelan Alvarez had 53 yards on 10 carries and Antonio Brocks added 43 on five carries. Jones ran for 23 yards and completed 4 of 8 passes for 35 yards.

Owens rushed for 156 yards on 14 carries for Mars Hill while Dobbs added 59 yards on 13 carries, and Hanson was 3-of-6 passing for 86 yards.

The loss snapped Scottsboros eight-game home winning streak.

Let it hurt for a minute, Bell said, but weve still got a lot to play for. Got to bounce back Well get back to the drawing back and work on Decatur and the playoffs.

Find more Scottsboro-Mars Hill game photos athttps://zenfolio.page.link/AsJ8c

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Mars Hill's rally deals blow to Scottsboro's chances of being 5A ... - Jackson County Sentinel