MEADVILLE – Shocking! That’s the feeling which was felt all overLouis Mullins Memorial Stadium Friday night as the North PikeJaguars gained their first victory of the season with a 14-7 upsetof the Franklin County Bulldogs. The Bulldogs outgained the Jags inevery statistical category, except for the scoreboard.

“This was a very big win for us,” said North Pike head coachAdam Barron. “It’s been a long time. We beat a very fine team inFranklin County.”

Barron’s Jags (1-4, 1-1) haven’t beaten the Bulldogs in his twoyears at the helm. As a program, the Jags haven’t tasted victoryover Franklin County since the mid to late 1980s.

“We got a real good team effort tonight,” continued Barron. “Werun basically the same style of offense as they run in the Wing T.And that carried us to victory.”

Sophomore Glover Quin produced a spark whenever the Jags neededit, by producing 153 yards on 13 carries.

“Glover had a good game tonight,” added Barron. “We got ourfirst overall win and district win over a team that will probablyfinish near the top of the region. Overall, it’s just happy towin.”

The Jaguars began the game by giving the Dawgs a dose of whatwas to come, by scoring on their opening drive off a Kendall Magee14-yard scamper. After a failed PAT, the Jags held a 6-0 firstquarter advantage.

The Dawgs (2-3, 0-1) answered back with a score of their ownfrom junior runningback Jon (Skeet) Hickingbottom. Hickingbottom(6-1, 170) tied the game at six with a three-yard touchdown plungewith 1:40 left in the quarter. On sophomore Chris Blackwell’s PAT,the Dawgs took the lead 7-6.

The next two quarters would feature a defensive struggle as theDawgs entered the red zone three times and left with two failedfield goal attempts and backed up yardage from penalties. The Jagsblocked one kick before halftime and deflected another in the thirdquarter.

In the fourth, Bulldog senior linebackers Cliff Herring andJames Hunt turned the momentum meter up for the Dawgs with physicalpunishment. Herring and Hunt directed a Bulldog assault oftremendous helmet rocking hits against the Jaguars that forced theJags to punt to the Dawgs with 10:08 left in the game.

The Bulldog offense would stall completely after three nogainers by Hickingbottom that sent junior punter Byron Brooks ontothe field. After a Brooks punt sailed 47 yards, the Jaguars seemedto be up against the wall. But Quin answered the Bulldog attackwith two 20-yard gains to the Bulldog eight.

It would take the Jaguars two plays to score their secondtouchdown of the night as Magee rambled eight yards to paydirt.After a PAT run by Quin, the Jags held a shocking 14-7advantage.

With 6:OO left, the Dawgs looked to return specialist WalterAnderson for some key yardage to help jump-start the Bulldogoffense. Instead of good yardage, the Bulldogs got a fumble thatresulted in Anderson going out of bounds at the Bulldog eight.

The Dawgs took to the air. After two long incompletions, theDawgs faced third and 10 deep inside their territory. Jaguar noseguard Dominic Pittman would supply the finishing touches on theDawgs as he sacked quarterback Colby Beach for a loss of sevenyards.

“We couldn’t score when we needed to,”said Bulldog seniorwingback Tommie Smith after the game. “Give them credit, they didwhat they had to do to win tonight. We’ve just got to get thingsgoing as a team, and stop making mistakes and start makingplays.”

Smith finished the game with 12 carries for 94 yards. Sophomorerunningback Cecil Kinzie finished with six carries for 30yards.

On defense, the Dawgs were led by senior Cliff Herring with 14tackles and two deflections. James Hunt was second with 13 tackles.Sophomore Donald Ray Smith ended the game with five tackles, twosacks and a fumble recovery.

For the Jags, Magee finished with 10 carries for 44 yards andtwo touchdowns. Sophomore runningback Steven Garner finished withsix carries for 35 yards.

Defensively for the Jaguars, Jeremy Pittman, Dusty Davis andMagee each had eight tackles.

The Bulldogs resume play Friday night at Jefferson County forthe Tigers homecoming. The Jaguars play at East Marion.

STATISTICS

NP FC

First Downs 10 11

Rushes-Yards 31-225 31-244

Passing Yards 12 25

Total Yards 237 265

Passes 1-4-0 4-8-0

Fumbles-Lost 1-0 3-0

Penalties-Yards 5-30 7-35

Punting-Average 3-25 3-30

North Pike 6 0 0 8 – 14

Franklin Co. 0 – 7

FIRST QUARTER

NP – Magee 14 run (kicked failed) 6:47.

FC – Hickingbottom 3 run (Blackwell kick)1:40.

FOURTH QUARTER

NP – Magee 8 run (Quinn run) 6:13.

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS

RUSHING: NP, Quin 13-153, Magee 10-44, Garner 6-35,Davis 3- -9, Downs 2- -2. FC, Hickingbottom 13-100, Smith 12-94,Kinzie 6-30, Brown 8-21, Shelton 1-4, Beach 1- -5.

PASSING: NP, Davis 1-4-0, 12. Beach 4-8-0,25.

RECEIVING: NP, Magee 1-12. FC, Brooks 3-20,Hickingbottom 1-5.