The Ethel High School football team dropped a heartbreaker to Noxapater last week, falling 20-14 in double overtime.
“I thought our kids played hard,” head coach Junior Graham said after the game, noting that they came up just short in a “good high school football game.”
Ethel now sits at 4–3 on the season, and with Noxapater being a region opponent, the loss drops the Tigers to third place in Region 5‑1A at 1–1.
The Tigers moved the ball well against Noxapater finishing the night with 280 yards of offense, but just could not find a way to punch it in the endzone. Two first half drives produced zero points despite Ethel finding itself inside the Noxapater 10-yard line. “We just didn’t finish,” Graham said of the disappointing drives, adding that penalties and mental errors sunk the Tigers.
The Ethel defense held firm however, allowing just one touchdown in the first half and keeping the game within reach at 6–0 heading into halftime.
In the second half, Tigers senior quarterback came alive rushing for 144 yards and giving the Ethel offense a much-needed spark. May found the endzone near the end of the third quarter, and after he also converted the two-point try – Ethel snagged the lead 8-6.
The dam finally broke for the Tiger defense, as they immediately surrendered a touchdown on the ensuing drive – a 65‑yard explosive run by Noxapater. With the two‑point conversion, Ethel suddenly trailed 14–8.
Before NHS fans could catch their breath from cheering, May delivered a 57-yards rushing touchdown of his own with 47 seconds left in the third quarter. The Tigers failed their two-point attempt and the score was tied 14-14.
After both teams combined for 22 points in the span of two minutes and 47 seconds, neither team would score another point for the rest of regulation.
Ethel never got a great look at the endzone in the fourth quarter as penalties derailed its first drive, and on its second there was only 17 seconds left.
Noxapater, however, found themselves in the red zone twice in the fourth quarter, but the Tiger defense bent but did not break and forced two turnovers on downs with the game on the line.
Still tied, the game moved into overtime — the first overtime appearance for Ethel since Graham took over the program.
The Tigers won the toss and elected to play defense first, giving Noxapater the ball first on the Ethel 10-yard line.
The Tiger defense delivered yet again, stopping Noxapater just inches short on a fourth down run play, to give Ethel a chance to walk it off with any score.
Ethel’s chance to end it slipped away when May was tackled two yards short on a fourth‑and‑goal run from the four. With the Tigers unable to punch it in, both teams marched into double overtime.
This time the Tigers got the ball first, but after an untimely penalty and a sack, Ethel was not able to punch it in and Noxapater now had the fate of the game in its hands.
Noxapater didn’t waste a second in double overtime, breaking out a 10‑yard pass it had kept tucked away all night to walk off with a 20–14 win.
“We have to flush this one and move on,” Graham said of the disappointing loss. And “move on,” they will have to as the Tigers will host the 6-1 Nanih Waiya Warriors next week.
Nanih Waiya has seemingly cruised through its region season, beating Noxapater 27-13 and Sebastopol 42-19. The Warriors currently hold the top spot in Region 5-1A, but all of that can change if the Tigers are able to pull off the upset on Friday night.
