BY DANIEL SCHMIDT
THE LAFAYETTE SUN
LAFAYETTE — With no playoffs awaiting them after October, LaFayette High School could have let its season slip away. Instead, the Bulldogs (2-8) kept scrapping and clawing.
LaFayette scored the game’s final 14 points and forced two fourth-quarter fumbles, but Central Coosa County High School held on for a 48-35 win to spoil senior night at Bulldog Stadium on Oct. 30.
LaFayette plays in Class 1A, and the Cougars (4-6) are in Class 2A. Neither team qualified for the playoffs.
LaFayette head coach Douglas Jones Jr., who completed his first year at the helm of his alma mater, said he was proud of the effort despite the loss.
“That’s all I want,” Jones said. “For them to play with composure and effort. Play hard and just have fun no matter the scoreboard, just wanting to play with effort. That’s what we did.”
Kemare Harrington led the Bulldogs with a do-everything effort in his final game. He ran for 122 yards and a touchdown on five carries, caught four passes for 52 yards and completed 7 of 14 passes for 65 yards and a TD.
Jeremiah Whitlow added 59 yards and a TD on 12 carries as LaFayette ran for 276 yards on 34 carries. Kentavious Cobb caught four passes for 50 yards and intercepted a pass.
Central Coosa outgained LaFayette 462-401. [CCHS #10] completed 16 of 27 passes for 341 yards and five TDs with one interception. Ke’shaun Willingham caught three passes for 110 yards and two TDs, and Ja’Von Thomas added 98 receiving yards, a TD catch and an interception to go with a kickoff return for a TD.
Harrington’s biggest play came right after LaFayette’s defense gave the Bulldogs a spark. Trailing 48-27, LaFayette recovered a Central Coosa fumble at its own 22 with 6:10 left, one play after the Cougars had moved inside the 20 on a 53-yard pass. On the next snap, Harrington broke a 78-yard TD run, and Tyler Lee threw the 2-point conversion to Jayden Thomason to make it 48-35 with 5:55 left.
The Bulldogs got the ball back when they recovered another fumble at their own 39 with 2:37 remaining. Two plays later, Harrington was ruled to have fumbled after a 5-yard catch on a controversial call, and the Cougars recovered with 2:27 left before running out the clock.
While it’s impossible to know what would have happened if game officials had ruled it an incomplete pass, the 13-point deficit was not insurmountable.
“It’s football, man,” Jones said. “Sometimes the ball doesn’t bounce our way, and sometimes it does. It is what it is.”
Even so, LaFayette entered the fourth quarter down 48-21. Whitlow’s 4-yard TD run capped a 10-play, 69-yard drive that bridged the third and fourth quarters and cut the deficit to 48-27 with 8:23 left.
That score came after Central Coosa had taken control in the third quarter. The Bulldogs’ first two possessions of the second half ended on downs in Cougar territory, and Central Coosa scored on a 15-yard pass to Willingham and a 17-yard pass to Braylon Murray. Three LaFayette penalties for 35 yards extended the second of those drives, which ended with 27 seconds left in the third quarter.
The first half was a shootout. LaFayette led 8-6 after Marq Swanson’s 1-yard TD run and two-point conversion early in the second quarter, but Thomas returned the ensuing kickoff 87 yards for a TD.
The Cougars ultimately built a 28-8 lead before Jaden Lacey’s 20-yard TD run and Harrington’s fourth-down, 13-yard TD pass to T.J. Lockhart pulled the Bulldogs within 28-21. Central Coosa answered with a 15-yard TD pass to Jacquez Parker with one second left for a 34-21 halftime lead.
Jones said only five or six of his players had football experience entering the season. He said the inexperience showed at times but should pay off next fall.
“A lot of inexperience showed, but now all my young guys have experience,” Jones said.
According to Jones, a particular emphasis this offseason will be the weight room, with the goal of getting stronger and more physical at the point of attack.
“We’re gonna be fast and be able to run with anybody on the field,” he said.
This year’s seniors were Jones’ first senior class as a head coach. He said they accepted a new voice after a coaching change and embraced his program, and he has told them his phone number won’t change, so they can reach him for anything, from a wedding invitation to a baby shower.
“They bought in to what I was trying to bring,” Jones said. “They’re going to always hold a special place in my heart.”
When asked what he will remember most from this season, Jones said it will be his players coming back to work each week with their heads up, even as the losses mounted.
“It might not be the results I wanted, but I really enjoyed it,” Jones said.
