Rosa Fort overcame a three-point halftime deficit to outscore Kosciusko 14-0 in the second half and secure a 28-17 win in the first round of the MHSAA Class 4A playoffs on Friday.
Rosa Fort's Jacarius Vaughn returned a Kosciusko interception 70 yards late in the second quarter to whittle his team's deficit to three points and shift momentum in their favor heading into halftime.
"We kind of let them get momentum going into halftime, and they came out and had a long drive in the second half to score and take the lead," Kosciusko head coach Kelly Causey said. "We didn't get it done like we quite needed to."
Vaughn scored the go-ahead touchdown on a 5-yard run with 6:10 remaining in the third quarter to cap an 11-play, 67-yard drive that shaved 5:50 off the clock.
“We had high expectations to start the year off, and I think we overcame some stuff and got better as the year went,” Causey said. “I know the record doesn’t indicate that, but I think we definitely gave it our best shot.”
With 11:55 remaining in the fourth quarter, Rosa Fort's Marcus Rule threw a 5-yard touchdown pass to Boykins to push the Lions ahead 28-17 after Rule's two-point conversion run.
Kosciusko overwhelmed Rosa Fort early as it jumped ahead to a two-touchdown lead. Whippets quarterback Ethan Cook scored on a 2-yard run with 10:53 left in the first quarter, and fullback Damien Foster added a 3-yard run five minutes later. Will Carter kicked two successful PATs to up the Whippets advantage to 14-0.
Vaughn put Rosa Fort on the scoreboard via a 12-yard run at the 2:33 mark in the first quarter to slice his team's deficit in half following Jadeis Carter's extra-point kick.
Carter booted a 21-yard field goal with 2:25 remaining in the first half to give the Whippets a 17-7 lead.
Boykins' pick-six tipped momentum in Rosa Fort's favor, and the Lions carried it over into the second half to secure the postseason win.
"We threw three picks, one was taken back for a touchdown, and two of them were taken back to a short field," Causey said. "Defensively, I thought we played well enough to win the ball game, and we didn't get it on both sides of the ball throughout the whole night... When you play in the playoffs, you have to play well across the board."
Foster rushed for team-high 106 yards on 28 carries, and Zavier Miller added 45 yards on 11 carries.
Wood was 5 of 11 passing for 110 yards. Kentaveus Washington tallied one catch for 49 yards, and Antonio Harmon finished with two catches for 48 yards.
The Whippets ended their season at 3-8.
