LORMAN — Jefferson County had two things working against it Friday night: turnovers and an inability to get the running game going.

And that deadly dynamic duo proved the difference as Tylertown took a 33-12 win at Alcorn State’s Jack Spinks Stadium in the semifinals of the MHSAA Class 3A South State playoffs.

“First of all, my hat’s off to Tylertown, both their players and coaches,” Tigers head coach James Herrington said.

“They did something that others haven’t been able to do — slow down our running game. Coming into the game we were averaging 260 to 270 yards on the ground, and I don’t think we had 100 tonight.”

The Tigers actually did tally 114 yards rushing, but it was well short of their average coming in. And the Jefferson County passing game struggled as the Tigers threw five interceptions, setting up a short field for Tylertown on several occasions.

After a scoreless first quarter, Jefferson County scored first on a 2-yard carry by Robert Wells, but failed on the two-point conversion. On the ensuing kickoff, Tylertown fumbled the ball on its own 32-yard line, and Jefferson County recovered the fumble with 11:11 to go before the half.

Things were looking promising for Jefferson County at that point, but the Tigers fumbled on the very next play, and Tylertown’s Paxton Garner ran it all the way back to the Jefferson County 36.

Several plays later, on fourth down, Tylertown’s Tyre’oune Holmes scored an 11-yard carry. The Chiefs’ Chris Raiford got the extra point, giving them a 7-6 lead at the half.

Tylertown scored again in the third quarter on a big play when Holmes broke out with a 42-yard touchdown run with 10:22 left in the quarter. Raiford missed the extra point, and Tylertown led 13-6.

Turnovers began to mount for Jefferson County when an interception by the Chiefs’ De Albert Pittman set up at 53-yard scoring drive. Desmine Steward capped off the drive with an 8-yard touchdown run with 5:21 left in the third.

Ashton Ellezy ran in the 2-point conversion, and Tylertown had a 21-6 lead going into the fourth quarter.

A blocked punt by Jefferson County gave the Tigers hope in the fourth, setting them up on the Tylertown 17. With 10:21 left in the fourth, Kiwaski Tenner scored on a 1-yard run. The Tigers went for two, but Tylertown stuffed the run, cutting the Chiefs’ lead to 21-12.

The Tigers forced Tylertown to punt on their next possession, and the ball rolled into the end zone, giving Jefferson County the ball on the 20.

On the opening play of the series, Tenner threw an interception to the Chiefs’ Peyton Denton, who returned it to the 2-yard line. On the next play, Ellezy ran it in for the touchdown. Tylertown missed the extra point, giving it 27-12 lead.

The final Tylertown touchdown also came after an interception. With Jefferson County threatening in the red zone, Holmes picked it off at the Tylertown 1 and ran it back 99 yards for the score. The Chiefs missed the extra point again, and came away with a 33-12 lead.

With all of the interceptions, Herrington said it was a mixture of bad decision-making and miscommunication.

“We were running inside routes when we should have been running outside routes, and our quarterback was making hasty decisions,” Herrington said.

“He was under pressure a lot, because there was miscommunication on some blitz pickups, and we let blitzers run free. It was never one thing.”

Jefferson County finished its season 7-5. Despite being disappointed that his team didn’t get to the South State championship game, Herrington said he was very proud of his players after the game.

“I really appreciate how they came out and played,” Herrington said. “They played hard and gave me everything they had.”