Tigers win over Holliday in OT

“My best, your best.”

It’s been Jacksboro’s football motto all season, the thinking being if everyone does their best, no one has anything to worry about.

Kasey Ray Swan took that to heart tonight, coming through big in the clutch with both a touchdown and two-point conversion in overtime to give the Tigers a thrilling 49-48 win in a Class 3A Division II regional semifinal game at Graham Newton Field.

Jacksboro (13-0) will now face two-time defending state champion Gunter (13-0) in the Region I Final. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 1 at CH Collins Stadium in Denton. 

Swan, a senior, had been making his mark on defense for most of the night. His tip away of a pass on third down on Holiday’s final drive would set up overtime. Holiday (11-2) would break the 41-all tie in the first overtime on Grant Cox’s 11-yard run, his fourth rushing touchdown of the game.

At that point, Jacksboro Coach Casey Hubble knew his squad would go for two if they would score in the extra session.

“Their quarterback (Cox) is a good runner,” Hubble noted. “We told the kids, ‘get your best play ready.’”

That the Tigers did, using a pair of Luke Sams runs for short yardage. After a timeout, quarterback Lando Belcher, under a heavy rush, found Swan in the back of the end zone to cut the deficit to 48-47.

“We figured the back side would be open and it was,” Swan said.

On the conversion, Swan went deep into the end zone but eventually came forward and Belcher hit him in the near corner of the end zone to the delight of a large crowd of supporters.

The game lived up to its hype, the Eagles drawing first blood on a 22-yard pass from Cox to Parker Fandler. The extra point try was good with 8:03 left in the first.

Jacksboro tied the game on a Luke Sams one-yard run. Josh Salazar’s kick tied the game at seven.

Cox’s 33-yard scoring run was countered but a 63-yard pass from Belcher to Cannon Valenzuela knotting the game at 14 with 9:50 left in the second.

Following a Sams defensive stop to force a turnover on downs, the junior running back motored 59 yard to the end zone to put Jacksboro up for the first time at 21-14.

After a Steele Skinner fumble recovery, Cox was able to zigzag 16 yards to pay dirt to tie the game at 21 with 11 seconds left in the half.

The squads traded scores to start the second half, Belcher going 30 yards on the quarterback draw which was countered by Cox hooking up with Tyler Harrison on a 40-yard TD toss. Salazar missed his extra point while Holliday made theirs to go up 28-27.

A 26-yard pass from Belcher to Tyler Mitchell set up a 54-yard Belcher to Valenzuela scoring pass. The conversion failed but the Tigers were up 33-28 with 6:13 remaining in the third. Cox’s four-yard scoring run gave the Eagles a 34-33 lead after the extra point try failed.

After forcing a turnover on downs with 11:10 to go in regulation, Holliday ate up time on the clock, a 34-yard Collin Hays run moving the ball to the 11.One fourth-and-short, Cox found Fandler once again on a four-yard TD toss. The kick was true with 5:24 to go.

Holliday recovered another fumble with 4:51 to go but a nifty defensive stop from Wade Treadway forced a punt with 1:43 to go. With the Tigers starting at their own six, a pick six from Landry Huchton was negated by a roughing the passer penalty.

That sparked Jacksboro as Belcher and Mitchell combined on a 63-yard strike down the right sideline. Belcher and Sams combined on the conversion with 55 seconds left.