There”s something magical about the fourth quarter for Jaquez Johnson and Chuck Tillery when the Starkville High School football team plays Columbus.
A year ago, Johnson connected with Tillery for two touchdown passes to help the Yellow Jackets score 22 unanswered points in the fourth quarter in a come-from-behind victory.
On Friday, there was more riding on the outcome, which made the fourth-quarter heroics even sweeter.
Johnson”s 36-yard pass to Tillery and the two-point conversion pass to Martavious Foster helped Starkville complete a 15-point rally in the final 8 minutes, 3 seconds and steal a 29-28 victory from Columbus.
“We kept on playing and we never gave up,” Johnson said. “We played like Yellow Jackets tonight.”
The win helped the Yellow Jackets (4-7, 4-3 Class 6A, Region 1, District 2) secure the fourth and final playoff spot out of the district. Starkville will go on the road next Friday to play Madison Central.
Johnson shook off the effects of two interceptions in the final 8:35 and regrouped to score on an 11-yard run and then hit Tillery with a nice led pass over the middle that cut the Yellow Jackets” deficit to 28-27 with 2:33 remaining.
Starkville High coach Bill Lee initially sent kicker Cody Berryhill on the field, but he called timeout and reconsidered.
Lee said even if the Yellow Jackets had failed to score on the conversion and would have lost 28-27 they would have advanced to the playoffs. He said it was advantageous for Starkville to go for the conversion because Columbus needed to win by at least six points to earn the tiebreaker against Tupelo, which beat it during the regular season but lost to Olive Branch on Friday in its regular-season finale.
Lee didn”t have to worry about all of those possibilities because Johnson looked to his right, got the secondary to bite, and then looked back to the middle of the field for Foster, who cradled the ball and fell to his knees in the end zone.
“As long as we lost by five points or less we still would have went to the playoffs, so I thought we might as well go for the win right here,” Lee said. “Jaquez executed it and Martavious Foster caught it. That is a great play. It always has been a great play for years.”
Columbus (3-8, 2-5) used a 26-yard touchdown run by Damian Baker to build a 28-14 lead with 9:55 to play. The Falcons seemingly had all the momentum after Byerson Cockrell intercepted Johnson on a fourth-and-3 from the Columbus 41.
But Baker (21 carries, 248 yards) fumbled on the next play to give the ball back to the Yellow Jackets.
After two incompletions, Johnson connected with Tillery, Foster, and Justin Rogers on three passes to move the ball from Starkville”s 48 to Columbus” 11. Johnson then did the rest, scampering 11 yards for the touchdown. Berryhill”s extra point made it 28-21 with 6:04 to play.
“We had the plays wide open we just didn”t execute,” Johnson said. “In the second half, we told ourselves we were going to come out and execute and win the game.”
Starkville then recovered an onsides kick and took over at the Columbus 46. The Yellow Jackets drove the Falcons” 19, but Martin Sherrod intercepted Johnson in the end zone to stall Starkville”s momentum.
But quarterback Cedric Jackson fumbled on third-and-9 to give the ball back to the Yellow Jackets with 2:37 to go in regulation.
Johnson wasted little time, hitting Tillery over the middle for the wide receiver”s first touchdown of the season.
“When I came off the ball I gave him an outside release and I just took my foot in and went one way and I went the other way,” Tillery said. “Jaquez made a good throw and I caught it for a touchdown.
“I have been waiting all season for it. I sat out the first five games of the season, and it just feels like a blessing from God.”
Last year, Johnson hooked up with Tillery on touchdown passes of 8 and 9 yards in the fourth quarter to help Starkville rally for a 29-21 victory.
Columbus had 2:33 to go and all three of its timeouts to make one last drive. But a sack on second down and a pass breakup by Adonnis Scales on fourth down ended the Falcons” hopes.
Columbus coach Bubba Davis said the final eight minutes epitomized the Falcons” season. He said the team played well in spurts Friday night — and for long stretches of many games this season — but hurt itself with penalties, missed assignments, or turnovers.
“The thing that has killed us all year has been us,” Davis said. “You look back at what could have been and that is the tale of this year. We may be the best 3-8 team around. We played people tough but we just can”t put them away.”
Columbus controlled the lines for large portions of the game. The Falcons rushed for 361 yards on 44 carries and played like a team destined to advance to the playoffs. They answered a momentum-sapping hook-and-lateral play that tied the game at 14 with a five-play drive that Randy Brown (16 carries, 100 yards) capped with a 16-yard touchdown run.
“We didn”t quit. We didn”t play good,” Davis said. “I am disappointed we didn”t play better, but, again, this is an experience most of these kids have never had. It is like a playoff game. It is a game you have to win and win by six, but we”re not over the hump yet. I am proud for the kids. I hate that we blew what we had. It would have been great to have the opportunity to get a young team into the playoffs. We had that opportunity and didn”t take advantage of it.”
On the other sideline, Lee preached patience as time wasted away in the fourth quarter. He also praised Johnson for his ability to put the interceptions behind him and execute.
“You could see his intensity and his heart by the way he stepped up and came back,” Lee said. “When bad situations happen and you”re down, you still have to have hope, but you have to learn how to cope. He showed that tonight. A lot of people when adversity is down they will quit. He didn”t quit. He fought through this.”
The rest of the Yellow Jackets also persevered and rose to the challenge just when it appeared that time had run out.
“We played as a team, we never got down on ourselves, and kept our heads in the game,” Tillery said. “We just played together to win the game.”
Said Lee, “We grew up tonight. We”re going to go to Madison Central with loaded guns.”
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
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