TERRY –The Terry Bulldogs defeated the Lawrence County Cougars26-19, in double-overtime, in Region 6-4A football Fridaynight.

The Bulldogs forged a 19-6 lead midway through the fourthquarter. Lawrence County battled back to tie it with a dramaticlate-game rally, only to see chances to win slip away as Terrypulled out an overtime thriller.

Terry’s Bariton Wilkerson scored on a 10-yard run in the secondovertime period. Then the Bulldog defense held Lawrence County. TheCougars had tied the game with 16 seconds left in regulation on a19-yard touchdown pass from Tavalas Peyton to Ben Wall.

With the win, Coach Bill French’s Terry team improved to 5-3 onthe season, and 2-2 in 6-4A play. Lawrence County, coached by MikeDavis, fell to an identical 5-3 and 2-2.

“It’s a tough one,” Davis admitted. “This one hurts a littlemore because it’s the first one we’ve lost this year that we had adecent shot at winning.

“I’m very proud of the way our kids battled back in the fourthquarter,” Davis said. “At the same time, if we’d have found alittle of that emotion two hours earlier, maybe we wouldn’t haveever been in that situation.”

Standout Terry tailback Anthony Dixon scored 2 touchdowns in thefirst 5 minutes of the fourth quarter, giving the Bulldogs aseemingly insurmountable 19-6 lead. Lawrence County battled back,scoring first on a 64-yard run by Chris Jefferson.

Later, as the clock wound down, the Cougars drove 70 yards,converting on fourth down 3 different times.

The fourth-and-four pass from Peyton to Wall tied the game, butLawrence County’s PAT attempt sailed wide. Neither team scored inthe first overtime period.

“People just remember the obvious things that happen right atthe end of the game,” said long-time LCHS assistant Craig Davis.”That’s not right. There were more than 110 snaps in that gametonight, and a different outcome on any of them could have changedthe outcome of the game.

“We had great chances to score more than 19 points in the firsthalf alone,” Davis said, “but we didn’t get it done, and it caughtup with us. Give some credit to Terry. They played with moreemotion than we did for most of the night.”

Dixon, who is has well over 1,000 yards on the season, led theBulldogs with 136 hard-earned yards on 26 carries. When Dixon wasejected late in the game, his replacement, Wilkerson, came throughwith the clutch touchdown run. The passing combination ofquarterback Blake Pennock and wide receiver Jess Shelby also cameup big for Terry.

Jefferson’s 132 rushing yards led Lawrence County, with almosthalf of those coming on the 64-yard burst. Peyton passed for aseason-high 77 yards, as the Cougars ran up a season-high 344 yardsof total offense.

On the opening possession of the game, Lawrence County drove allthe way to the Terry 5-yard line, only to be stopped on downs.Early in the second quarter, Terry took the lead on an 8-yard passfrom Pennock to Shelby. The Cougar defense did an excellent job ofslowing down the high-powered Dixon. It was a 51-yard pass toShelby that set up the score. Shelby, one of the state’s top soccerplayers, converted the extra point for a 7-0 Bulldog lead.

Lawrence County came right back, largely on the strength of 2pass plays. First, Peyton hit J.P. Lewis for 18 yards. Four playslater, Peyton connected with Will Harris for 40 yards. That set upJefferson’s 6-yard touchdown run. The extra point snap was bobbled,and the kick was blocked.

Right before halftime, after a Terry punt, the Cougars missedout on a chance to take the lead. A would-be 22-yard touchdown passfell incomplete, preserving Terry’s narrow halftime lead.

Lengthy possessions resulted in no scoring in the third period.Early in the fourth, after a Peyton pass was intercepted, Dixonscored on a 4-yard run, increasing Terry’s lead to 13-6. TheCougars fumbled on their very next play, setting up Dixon’s 18-yardrun. The Bulldogs had a seemingly comfortable 19-6 lead with 7:37left in the game.

Jefferson immediately got the Cougars back into the game withLawrence County’s longest offensive play of the season. TravisStalans’ extra point got the Cougars to within 6, at 19-13.

Lawrence County’s defense stuffed Terry, with Justin Lee andDanny Powell combining on a key third-down sack of Pennock. Thatset up the Cougars’ dramatic 70-yard drive.

The Cougars overcame a holding penalty and 3 fourth-downsituations en route to the tying touchdown. On the last of thosefourth down plays, Peyton flipped to Wall in the flat for firstdown yardage. Wall broke a tackle and sprinted down the rightsideline into the end zone.

Terry went first in both overtime periods. The first Bulldogpossession was stopped by a Powell pass interception. LawrenceCounty proved unable to move and a 23-yard field goal attempt wasblocked by Terry’s Antwon Dixon.

That set up Wilkerson’s heroics and the Bulldogs’ dramaticvictory.

The Cougars will get a chance to rebound at home, againstWingfield Friday. Terry will continue its 4A playoff chase againstMcComb.