FAYETTE &045; It was as close to a must-win situation as it could get for the Jefferson County Tigers as they went into Friday night’s key Region 7-3A matchup with the Wilkinson County Wildcats with a two-game losing streak, including a stunning loss to Amite County a week earlier.

A loss to the Wildcats would have meant a 0-2 start in region play, meaning their chances at the playoffs would have been getting slimmer and slimmer. A win by the Wildcats would have put them in good position for a run at the region title.

Fittingly, a game that went back and forth between the two rivals went down to the last play of the game as Issac Wallace threw a 23-yard touchdown pass to Joseph Kemp with no time left on the clock to give Jefferson County a stunning 24-20 win over Wilkinson County to get back in the Region 7-3A race.

&uot;It was a good game,&uot; Tigers head coach Jeffery Harness said. &uot;They just played four quarters. They wanted to win real bad. It was a big win. It’s not going to get any easier.&uot;

As for that game-winning touchdown, Harness said, &uot;We just ran a post pattern and Kemp made a good catch.&uot;

Indeed it was as the Tigers could not afford to go 0-2 in region play with a road game at undefeated Franklin County looming on the horizon this Friday night.

Jefferson County (3-2, 1-1) used a good balance of running and passing to keep Wilkinson County’s defense a bit puzzled, especially considering the Tigers were still without running back Ernest Havard.

&uot;Our offense did a good job moving the ball,&uot; Harness said.

The Tigers got a 16-yard touchdown pass from Wallace to Jamel Sampson in the first quarter, a safety in the second quarter and a 1-yard touchdown run by Avery Hammett nearly midway through the third quarter.

Harness was also pleased with the way the defense stepped up, especially in the second half as the Wildcats (4-1, 1-1) were held to just one touchdown.

&uot;We’ve been telling them all week that they would have their hands full,&uot; Harness said. &uot;They’ve (Wilkinson County) got two good backs (Alvin Fosselman and Lakendrick Russ).&uot;

Franklin County 47, North Pike 0

SUMMIT &045; North Pike may have given Wilkinson County a good game last week, but the Jaguars (0-5, 0-2) were no match for the Bulldogs Friday night in a Region 7-3A matchup, especially the duo of Deandre Cameron and Jasper O’Quinn.

This game was actually more of a mismatch than a matchup as O’Quinn had 95 combined yards rushing and passing to go with one rushing touchdown while Cameron had nearly 100 yards rushing and three touchdowns for Class 3A’s 4th-ranked Bulldogs (5-0, 1-0).

Hazlehurst at Amite County

LIBERTY &045; Score unavailable.