Jacks out of 3A playoffs

It’s officially basketball season in the Tri-parish area.

Heading into this past weekend’s slate of games, Patterson was the only local prep football team with active ambitions to win the state championship.

But those hopes will have to wait until next year, as the Jacks fell 27-14 to Jennings’ in the Class 3A Quarterfinals – a defeat that marked the official end to the local prep football season.

Patterson, widely regarded throughout the year as the best team in the area, finishes the year with a 10-3 record and a district championship season.

“I’m awfully proud of my guys,” Patterson coach Tommy Minton told reporters following the game. “We fought through a lot of adversity this year and really got better each week to have a great season. This ends a little short of our goal, but we’re awfully proud of these men and fully expect them to have a solid offseason to get themselves back into this position again next year.”

Everything looked pretty good for the Jacks early in Friday night’s game.

Just like they did in their second-round victory against Loranger, Patterson struck early to take the lead. Powered by an absolutely dominant defensive effort, the Lumberjacks scored a pair of first-half touchdowns to take a 14-0 lead into halftime.

As the teams headed to the lockers, it surely seemed as though the lead would easily be able to hold up, as the Patterson defense thoroughly dominated the early minutes of the game.

The Jacks limited Jennings to just two first downs in the opening half and only 46 total yards. With possession of the ball for most of the half, Patterson’s fast-paced offense was able to lean on the Jennings’ defense and cause fatigue.

“Our defense really kept them out of sync early in the game,” Minton said. “I thought we were doing a good job tackling and a good job keeping them in favorable down and distances.”

But with a chance to make adjustments, Jennings responded and changed the tempo of the game. Thanks to a few turnovers, the Jacks’ foe pushed their way into the next round.

The Bulldogs’ offense found a rhythm in the second half and pushed into the end zone, striking for 27-consecutive points in the final 24 minutes of play. When the Jennings offense wasn’t on the field, the team’s defense was busy making plays.

Jennings forced seven total turnovers throughout the game, including six turnovers in the second half.

Bulldogs’ athlete Malik Jones was a force to be reckoned with in the second half surge, catching two touchdowns and interceptions in the final quarter to seal the victory – the ninth-straight for the Bulldogs, who started the year just 1-3.

“The turnovers were the difference,” Minton said. “You can’t give up that many possessions and expect to win a high-stakes football game against a very good football team. It was tough that it happened like that, but give credit to them – they did a great job. We knew going into the game that we needed to limit our mistakes if we wanted to beat them in the game.”

For the Jacks, the loss ended their 10-game winning streak.

After losing the first two games to start the season, Patterson stormed back and scored 40 or more points in nine-straight games to roll through the regular season undefeated in district play.

Tommy Minton