PRICEDALE – The Brookhaven Panthers and the North Pike Jaguars provided an exciting contest for their football fans Friday night as both teams had to battle through misting rain and poor field conditions in high school football action.

At the end of the contest, the Jaguars managed to secure a 28-27 victory over the Panthers on a fumble recovery by North Pike’s Vontae Bishop with 1:19 left in the game.

“Wow! What a great game,” said North Pike coach Chris Smith. “I am extremely proud of my guys. They fought hard throughout the whole game and did not give up. Anytime you get a win like this against a good school like Brookhaven it is huge for our program and for the guys.

“We are a very young team,” continued Smith. “This win will be a great motivator for our guys as the season continues on.”

In the opening quarter, the Jaguars quickly set the tone of the game by scoring on their opening drive as Javion Jackson finished the three-play drive by catching a 19-yard pass from sophomore quarterback Juwan Adams with 10:45 remaining. Trent Coleman was two-of-three on the extra-point kick for the Jags.

Brookhaven quickly answered North Pike’s challenge on the next possession as Ben Robinson returned the kickoff 81 yards to paydirt with 10:29 left. Jonathan Martinez was unsuccessful on the extra-point kick.

On the next few possessions, both teams provided a great defensive battle as neither school could advance the ball offensively into the redzone until the 7:37 mark when the Panthers managed to capitalize on North Pike’s miscue, and senior running back Tre McDaniel broke free to score a nine-yard rushing touchdown to give his team the lead. Tyler Mixon took the next extra point attempt and pushed the score up to 13-7. Mixon was 3 for 3 in PAT attempts on the night.

The Panthers continued to pound the ball on the ground against North Pike’s young team in the first quarter and scored another touchdown with 1:19 left on a three-yard run by Ken Boyd to secure a 20-7 advantage at the end of the opening quarter.

In the second quarter, North Pike quickly turned the momentum into their favor as they fought back into the contest with Adams’ 32-yard touchdown run with 9:29 left and a one-yard touchdown plunge with 2:23 remaining to tie the contest at 20-all at halftime.

In the second half, the defensive battle continued to heat up between the two teams as the game remained tied until 1:38 left in the third quarter, when McDaniel sprinted in a 18-yard run to give the Panthers a 27-20 lead.

In the fourth quarter, North Pike finally broke up Brookhaven’s bid for a second-half shutout and put pressure on the Panthers after Colton Magee plowed in on a four-yard rushing touchdown with 4:36 remaining. After the touchdown, North Pike’s coach elected to go for the two-point conversion and was successful as Adams punched it in to give the Jags a 28-27 lead.

With plenty of time remaining on the clock, the Panthers felt sure they had the opportunity to claim the win. After securing the kickoff, Brookhaven quickly marched down the field to set up for a potential game-winning score.

The Panthers looked poised to claim the win as they fought their way inside the redzone and the wind was quickly deflating out of North Pike’s defense. But on the following drive by the Panthers the ball was fumbled and recovered by North Pike’s defensive tackle Vontae Bishop with 1:19 left to secure the win for the Jaguars.

“We cannot give up big plays and have as many turnovers as we did and expect to win ball games,” said BHS coach Tommy Clopton. “We had our chances to win the game, but we did not put them away early.

“Hats off to North Pike, they made the plays that they needed to secure the win,” continued Clopton. “Now, we must regroup and get ready for another big game next Friday.”

Offensively, Tre McDaniel directed the Panthers ‘ground attack with 238 yards rushing on 31 carries. Ken Boyd contributed 18 rushes for 104 yards.

Jon Mark Mathis completed one-of-five passes for 30 yards and an interception. McDaniel was the top receiver with 26 yard on the trick-play.

Adams paced the Jaguars’ offense, completing 10-of-19 passed for 142 yards and a touchdown. He rushed for 47 yards and scored two touchdowns.

Defensively, Alex Benson led the Panthers with seven tackles. Willie Bates had four stops and a interception. Leo Lewis provided five tackles.

Magee was the top tackler for the Jags with nine tackles.

The Panthers will invade McComb again next Friday to take on the McComb Tigers. North Pike travels to Germantown. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.