Indians rally to beat Jaguars


Thursday, September 13, 2007
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Indians rally to beat Jaguars

By CLAUDE VINSON
Sports Editor

Photo by Ronnie Day

Pitching
Byhalia quarterback Marcus Thomas makes the pitch to a teammate.

Anxious to put the previous week’s loss at Horn Lake behind them, the Byhalia Indians turned their anxiety into productive intensity at home Friday night when they took on the Desoto Central Jaguars.

The Indians took the ball first and quarterback Marcus Thomas hit Darrell Malone with a long pass. Thomas then called a quarterback draw and trucked the ball in from the 18. Marquise Green punched it in for the two-point conversion.

The Indian defense was revved up also, forcing the Jaguars to punt and waiting as one of the receivers was Green. Green took the ball and evaded all would be tacklers for an 80-yard touchdown return. They didn’t hit the point-after try but went up 14-0.

But the Jaguars didn’t stay stung for long. They roared back and scored twice in the second quarter to tie the score.They kicked both extra points. They scored quickly again when Thomas threw an interception. Again they nailed the extra point and took the lead 21-14.

The Indians made good on their next possession, moving the ball downfield into scoring position. Thomas then made the toss to Warren Taylor. The scoring strike covered 23 yards. The Indians were just one point behind when the horn ended the first half.

The Indian defense held the Jaguars on their first possession in the second half and Green caught a Thomas touchdown toss for 14, handing the lead back to the Indians at 26-21.

Once again the Jaguars were not done. They scored 20 more points and had the Indians down 41-26.

But then the Indians really went to work. Thomas hit Chris Hill with a 33-yarder, then came right back on the next possession with a strike which covered 87 yards. They were still pouring it on in the fourth quarter when Thomas hit Green again for 13 yards and a score. This put the Indians ahead for good at 46-41.

Thomas hurled four touchdown balls and carried one. He had 329 air yards and 33 on the ground on five carries.

Head coach Devin Rutherford said Terrion Smith was a terror on defense.

“He made a dozen solo tackles and caused and covered one fumble,” Rutherford said.

The coach also said when the Indians were behind it seemed to have energized them.

Coach Rutherford named Thomas as player of the week.

The Indians will travel to Tennessee this Friday night to take on Bolivar Central.

Fired up and ready
An excited group of Byhalia cheerleaders leads their Indians onto the field Friday night for the home opener.

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