When it appeared that the smoke had cleared and that McAdams (3-6, 3-3) was about to sew up a nice 40-26 win over its Attala County rivals, Ethel (4-5, 3-3) came roaring back with two touchdowns in just over two minutes in the final quarter to force the contest into overtime.
Facing fourth down on the 12-yard line on its first possession in overtime with the scored tied at 40-40, an Ethel defender was called for pass interference and the Bulldogs were given new life at the six-yard line. Two plays later Mark Stewart would score his fifth touchdown of the night and punch in the two-point conversion as well to put the Bulldogs up 48-40. The Tigers quickly scored on their first overtime possession but failed on the two-point attempt and lost the Region 3-1A contest 48-46.
The Tigers led the contest 14-12 at the half and 26-20 with 9:42 left to play. The Bulldogs took the lead 28-26 on a 37-yard Stewart run with 8:46 remaining after Kristopher Brown ran in the two-point conversion. Quarterback Zy’Tavia Ball pushed the score to 34-26 after a three-yard sneak and Stewart would score again with 2:22 left in the contest, making the score 40-26. The Tigers rallied back with two scores in just a little over two minutes to force overtime but were ultimately unable to score on the two-point conversion and lost the contest 48-46.
The Tigers will host French Camp (3-7, 3-3) on Friday night while the McAdams Bulldogs travel to Leake County (3-6, 2-4). If French Camp defeats Ethel, the Panthers will claim the No. 4 seed in Region 3. However, a Tiger win keeps Ethel’s hopes alive due to points in a tie-breaker scenario with McAdams if the Bulldogs win out.
