Tigers lose to Wellington, 8-6

VERNON – You find out what you have in the tank when you play the best. If Friday night is any indication, the Tigers have plenty to begin district play Oct. 9 in Merkel.

Despite being a Class 2A Division II school, Jacksboro knew it would get a stiff test from Wellington Friday night. It did as the Tigers did a fabulous job defensively for most of the night.

Unfortunately it was the one mistake, a missed tackle, that allowed the No-3 ranked Skyrockets to blast off after being shutout for the first half. That, followed by a conversion to break a 6-all tie, was the difference in an 8-6 Wellington win at Leo Brittain Field.

Jacksboro is 3-2 with Wellington going to 4-0.

Both teams were our by penalties in the first quarter, amassing 25 yards each. Neither team could get much going with its punting game as well. A short Skyrocket punt was taken 26 yards by Jacksboro’s Landon Davenport for excellent field position at the Wellington 14 to end the first quarter.

Seconds later, Baylor Laake found an open hole and darted through it for a scoring run. The extra point failed.

After some solid defense by Jordan Yount helped force a Wellington punt, the Tigers marched another 65 yards downfield. Yount had 37 of those steps on a thirdand short jaunt to set up first-and-goal at the nine.

It wasn’t to be as the drive stalled on a turnover on downs. Wellington would get on the board on a long Marc Ramirez run. Ramirez was a thorn in the Tigers’ paw all evening, but Jacksboro managed to contain him most of the contest except for the aforementioned one play midway through the third quarter.

Jacksboro had a chance to retake the lead but missed a 41-yard field goal.

The Tigers were undaunted early in the fourth but had miscues continue to hurt them. Yount had a 20-yard run on the first play but Jacksboro was hurt by a chop block penalty. Later, Yount found Davenport on a 39-yard strike to the Skyrocket 40 but the Tigers were again hurt by penalties and were shut down inside the red zone.

The Tiger defense also kept Wellington from extending its lead late.