By Johnny Sanders, Sports Editor
MONTGOMERY – The Center Point Eagles took to the road on Friday night as they traveled to Montgomery to take on the JAG Jaguars in a non-region matchup that went into two overtimes before the home team was able to snatch the win by a final score of 24-16.
Center Point coach George Bates.
Photo by: Ron Burkett
The Eagles came into the game on a four-game winning streak while the Jaguars had yet to win a game on the season.
Center Point opened the game with a Julius Finnerson touchdown on a one-yard run paired with a Finnerson run on the two-point attempt to put the visiting team up 8-0 in the first quarter.
The defenses would duel, holding their opposing offenses scoreless until the Eagles found the end zone again in the second quarter. This time, Jaquoryae Busby caught a pass from Keywone Posey, who filled in for starter Deon Moore for the second week in a row, from 19 yards out. Center Point would head into the half with a 16-0 lead after the successful two-point try.
While the Eagles owned the first half, the Jaguars came out of the locker room with a comeback on their mind, and that is exactly what happened.
JAG would use a 35-yard touchdown pass in the third and a 62-yard pass in the fourth, along with successful two-point plays on each, to tie the game up and push it to overtime.
In the first overtime period, neither team had success getting points on the board. In the second, JAG would get a four-yard touchdown run and a two-point conversion to grab the lead. Center Point would be unsuccessful on their attempt and the game would end with JAG getting their first win of the year and the first win of the Roy Upchurch era.
Posey had a good night, finishing 9 of 16 for 105 yards and a touchdown. Finnerson had 72 yards on 20 carries and a score.
On defense, Busby and Armonte Graham had two interceptions each.
Eagles’ coach George Bates said the following, “We came out flat, but were still up 16-0 at half. I guess we thought the game was over. We didn’t score in the second half and gave up 24 points in the half and overtime period. It sucks to lose and have to think about it for almost two hours on a school bus. We will continue to work, that’s all I know.”
The Eagles will jump back into region play next week as they host the Moody Blue Devils Friday night.
