KNOXVILLE, Tenn. | Time ran out in East Knoxville Friday night with Scott High stranded on the 45-yard-line.
More accurately, Scott’s last-second, desperation heave was picked off by the Roadrunners, helping them preserve a 31-28 victory over the Highlanders in a comeback that came up just short.
Scott (2-1, 0-1) had been down 24-7 late in the third quarter before beginning the comeback bid. The Highlanders put two scores on the board late to make the game close but were haunted by a few individual moments throughout the game.
There was a fumble near the end of the first half, when the Highlanders were simply trying to get to the locker room with a 12-7 deficit. Instead, Austin-East (2-1, 1-0) recovered at the two-yard-line and tacked on a garbage score just before the end of the half to go up 18-7.
Then, after the Roadrunners had swiftly added another score to start the third quarter, the Highlanders had a drive stall inside the red zone. Down 24-7, Scott chose to attempt a fourth-and-six conversion rather than settle for three points, which turned out to be the difference on the scoreboard at the end of the game.
Penalties also continued to hurt Scott High. The Highlanders were penalized seven times for 46 yards — a season low — but there were some costly ones. Scott’s first drive appeared promising before a holding penalty killed the possession and Austin-East marched 92 yards for the game’s first score.
Scott finished with 361 yards of offense — almost identical to the 366 put up by Austin-East. But stopping the Roadrunners proved to be difficult. A-E quarterback Landon Lightfoot completed 14 of 25 passes for 213 yards, a season-high given up by the Highlander defense.
Lightfoot started the scoring with a 12-yard touchdown run in the first quarter, and later threw for two more scores.
Jesse Jeffers had a monster game for Scott High. The junior finished with 200 yards of total offense, most of it on the ground, and was also a leading tackler on defense. He was named the IH Sports Network’s First National Bank Player of the Game.
After Lightfoot’s score in the first quarter, Scott answered with an impressive drive that was capped by an eight-yard Carter Slaven touchdown run, and the Highlanders led 7-6.
Austin-East regained the lead on the ensuing possession, with Jocorious Towns scoring on a 30-yard run for a 12-7 lead.
That was the way it appeared things would stand at halftime, but a fumble deep inside the 10-yard-line late in the half flipped the script. Austin-East pounced on the fumble at the two, setting up an easy touchdown plunge by Keyvon Booker just before the intermission to put his team up 18-7.
The third quarter started with A-E taking possession and swiftly tacking on another score. Lightfoot connected with Dikyeis Towns for a 19-yard strike, and the Roadrunners led 24-7.
The Highlanders’ ensuing drive stalled inside the 10-yard-line, when A-E made a fourth down stop just short of the sticks. But the Highlander defense came up with a stop, and then the comeback effort began in earnest.
After Slaven scored on a three-yard run to make it 24-14, A-E tacked on another score on a 30-yard Lightfoot pass to Travis Burgins. But Scott struck back with a one-yard run by Slaven, then Jeffers broke free for an 18-yard run to make it 31-28.
The Highlander defense got one more stop to give the offense an opportunity to win the game. But with no timeouts remaining, Scott was powerless to stop the clock and the final possession became more of a desperation effort, which ended with a deep pass being intercepted by A-E.
The loss was Scott High’s first of the season, but was an important loss became it marked the opening of region play. The Highlanders will now host McMinn Central on Sept. 18 in what is an almost must-win game for Scott’s playoff hopes.
