Kosciusko took a two-point lead into the final two minutes of its season opener against Yazoo County, but a 25-yard Panther touchdown with just 47 seconds remaining in the game was enough to lead them past the Whippets.
Yazoo County escaped Kosciusko 20-16 on Thursday to secure the road win and move to 1-0 on the season. The Whippets fell to 0-1.
After tallying 185 yards in the first half, the Whippets earned just eight yards in the last two quarters.
“The entire second half, we just didn’t play very well on the offensive side of the ball,” Kosciusko coach Kelly Causey said. “We had a defensive stand the series before they scored, and then just had a busted coverage on the play they scored on. I was very pleased with what the defense did, but we’ve got to be able to execute a little better on the offensive side of the ball.”
The Whippets led 10-0 at the end of the first quarter and 16-14 at halftime.
Kosciusko got on the board early with a 1-yard touchdown run by receiver Antonio Harmon on the Whippets’ opening drive to push the Whippets ahead 7-0 after Will Carter’s successful extra-point kick.
Kosciusko running back Kentaveus Washington broke free on a 40-yard run late in the opening quarter to give the Whippets first-and-goal from the Yazoo County 8-yard line.
Washington finished with a game-high 146 yards rushing on 17 carries. Playing in the place of injured first-team running back Zavier Bobo Miller and back-up Duntavies Fondren — who re-injured his knee during the opening kick off — Washington experienced exhaustion at halftime and was limited in second-half action.
“He went down early, so we were playing with our third and fourth running back and just couldn’t run the ball quite as well,” Causey said.
The Whippets had a touchdown called back after a penalty and failed to reach the end zone during the drive. They netted three points after a field goal by Cody Pope which put them ahead 10-0 with under a minute remaining in the first quarter.
An early second-quarter Yazoo County touchdown put the Panthers on the scoreboard, as the Panthers trimmed their deficit to 10-8 with 10:49 remaining before halftime.
Before his second-half exit, Washington answered with a 65-yard touchdown run with 10:49 left in the second quarter which gave the Whippets a 16-8 advantage following a botched extra-point attempt.
The Whippets’ defense forced two turnovers during the last nine minutes of the first half. Davion Roby intercepted a pass, and Kobe Carter recovered a fumble.
“We showed signs that we could do some good things,” Causey said. “Of course you’d love to have a victory, but we definitely see some bright spots and some things that we can harp on.”
Yazoo County’s Corey Rucker returned a Kosciusko punt for a touchdown late in the first half to make the score 16-14 after a failed two-point conversion at intermission.
Playing for the first time in Kosciusko's spread offense, Whippets quarterback Ethan Wood was 10 of 23 passing for 39 yards with one interception. Receiver Kris Brown tallied 13 yards receiving on two catches.
“This is our first time running this offense, so there are some things that we’re going to add and some things we’re going to take away,” Causey said. “We’ll just continue to get better at it.”
Ethan Dawson led the Kosciusko defense with 10 tackles. Davonta Turner and Devonte’ Ellis both posted six tackles and one sack. The Whippet defense was responsible for nine tackles for a loss. Jaquarius Thomas also contributed a sack.
“I thought as a group we did an excellent job of lining up,” Causey said. “We didn’t have a whole lot of missed assignments other than that one big one at the end. You take away the punt return they had for a touchdown, and we give up 14 points on the night, and in high school ball, that’s one of your goals. I think they had a total of 158 yards of offense. We handled a lot of our defensive goals. I was proud of the fact of the way we ran to the ball and were very aggressive.”
