FAYETTE — By the time Jefferson County High School settled down and realized it could match up with Evangel Christian Academy last Friday, it was already too late.

Down 30-0 going into the fourth quarter, the Tigers managed just one touchdown, but missed the extra point en route to a 30-6 loss.

Jefferson County head coach James Herrington said his team’s performance in the first half kept it from mustering a comeback.

“Early on we gave them some easy scores,” Harrington said. “Our guys had some jitters from being in a new environment, since it was our first time to play at Evangel Christian.

“We gave them some early turnovers in the game, as well as a safety. They kept us pinned down inside our own 10 yard line in the first half, and our guys weren’t able to break loose on offense until late in the second half.”

Despite a 1-3 record so far this year, Harrington said he sees a lot of resiliency in the group of players he’s coaching.

“Them playing hard regardless of the score and how tough it’s been to execute our game plan (is a positive),” Harrington said. “Our guys have stuck in there and played until the end, which is not easy to do when things aren’t going well.

This season’s Jefferson County team has very few seniors, Harrington said, and they’re still in the process of learning what it takes to win.

“With a young ball club right now, it’s about finding ways to win and learning how to win. This year, we’re experiencing different situations and scenarios and we’re slowly improving.”

Harrington said his players took a lot from the Evangel Christian game in terms of playing on the road and believing they can compete. He hopes these things carry over to Friday, when the Tigers travel to South Pike High School.

“They’re going to be the same South Pike team I’ve seen in the past,” Harrington said. “They’re going to run the football hard and play a ball control style of offense.”

Harrington also wants to win this game for personal reasons. In his four years as the Tigers’ head coach, he has yet to beat South Pike.

“They’ve managed to elude me, and it would be a big boost for our program to go in there and pull off a win,” Harrington said.