After a long night plagued with fumbles and penalties, the West Lincoln Bears defeated the Enterprise Yellow Jackets in a district battle 20-13 Friday. A blocked field goal with a few seconds left in the game doomed Enterprise’s chance at a comeback. 

In the first quarter, both teams struggled with turnovers. Brandon Smith made a big catch for the Bears but was stripped of the ball by Marvin Butler. Butler was then stripped by Gabe Nations. The Jackets came out strong in the second quarter, dominating the Bears. They marched downfield on several short yardage plays.

Quarterback Zach Hodges put the Jackets on the board on a 15-yard run to the endzone. Toby White made a straight-in kick for the point after, putting the score at 7-0 with 11:52 remaining in the quarter. 

It wasn’t long before Darren Richardson picked off a pass from Bears’ quarterback Nathaniel Addison and returned it 52 yards for a score.

White’s PAT was off, leaving the score 13-0 at the end of the first half. West Lincoln came out in the second half determined to bring home the win. Addison completed pass after pass to his receivers, controlling the ball. The Bears came back from a 13-point deficit to put themselves in the lead at 14-13 by the end of the third quarter.In the last quarter, with only seconds left on the clock, it looked like Enterprise was going to make a comeback to win the game. With just yards to the goal line and two seconds left, Enterprise’s White attempted a field goal but it was blocked by the Bears.Chase Owen picked up the knocked-down ball and ran to the endzone for the touchdown for the Bears, who defeated the Yellow Jackets 20-13.Not all the excitement happened on the field. In the last quarter, near the end of the game, Enterprise and West Lincoln players ran into one of Enterprise’s coaches, Tyler King, on the sideline. The players hit King and knocked him on his back, Enterprise head coach Brooks Burns said.  “He was kind of in the way,” Burns said.King was treated and released at King’s Daughters Medical Center.Burns said his players did a good job, especially his offensive and defensive lines, but West Lincoln played better.“We made too many mistakes, had too many turnovers,” Burns said. “We made too many mistakes in the second half.”Both teams will compete in division play Friday with Enterprise hosting Amite County and West Lincoln traveling to Loyd Star. Both kickoffs are set for 7 p.m.