Crockett Co. gets needed win
ALAMO — Confidence is something that has been shaken over the last three weeks for the Crockett County football team.
After opening the season with three wins, the Cavaliers took three straight losses.
But on Friday, they made the statement that Crockett County is not ready to quit or give up.
Even after Chester County tied the game late, the Cavaliers finished the game strong to beat the Eagles 19-13 at Crockett County in a Region 7-4A matchup.
“Our gus still have a lot to play for,” Crockett County coach Kevin Ward said. “A lot of people wrote us off after the North Side loss. They dominated us. We challenged them this week to give us a perfect effort in practice and perfect in game. We executed really well.”
Things went the way of Crockett County (4-3, 2-3) early, but with 4:10 remaining, Chester County’s Malcolm Tipler scored from eight yeards out to tie the game 13-13.
The defense was put in a bad situation on that drive after a fumble deep in Crockett County territory.
Thoughts of those losses that slipped away through the last three games could have returned, but Crockett County senior Jeremiah Nance knows how to come through in clutch situations.
Nance took the ensuing kickoff 89 yards to give Crockett County back the lead (19-13) with 3:44 to play.
“Chester County is a great football team that is fast and physical,” Nance said. “They called the right play to score the touchdown, but we were really confident that we could score right back.
“We didn’t even think we needed our offense to get on the field. We were confident that we could run the kickoff back.”
PHOTO GALLERY: Football - Chester County vs. Crockett County
Ward feels that kickoffs are just another way to score.
“We teach our guys that when they kick off to us, it is an offensive play,” Ward said. “We have threats back there, and we were close all night to returning a kickoff. I am glad they kicked off to us one more time.”
The Crockett County defense held Chester County (5-1, 4-1) to no yards on four plays to close out the game.
The Cavaliers’ defense contained Chester County’s playmakers for a majority of the game. Crockett County did give up a 60-yard run to Darwin Kelly in the second quarter, but the Cavaliers held them to 217 total yards.
“From the feeling of the game, we controlled the line of scrimmage,” Ward said. “They are a good football team that made plays at the end of the game. The offense put the defense in some bad situations, but they dug their heels in.”
Rain played a big part early with slick conditions, and the Eagles didn’t do a good job trying to bring down the large frame of Crockett County’s Jordan Branch.
After a Wilson Miskelly field goal gave Chester County the lead late in the first half, Branch broke a 47-yard touchdown run and Kordell Smith followed early in the second half with a 24-yard touchdown run for the 13-3 lead.
“The last three weeks of the season, we haven’t played together,” Nance said. “We have been selfish, but things are starting to pan out. We had inexperience in tough situations with players that didn’t know how to lose. We are now almost clicking on all cylinders.”
Michael Odom, 425-9754
