Converting third- and fourth-down situations can be the difference in winning and losing, or in the playoffs, advancing or not advancing.

On Friday night, 19th-seeded Bogalusa took over the momentum and scored two key touchdowns in the second half with three conversions on fourth down and two more on third down in a 38-27 Class 3A regional round victory over No. 3 Jena.

It was the only loss of the year for Jena, which came in to Friday night with an 11-0 record.
Bogalusa led 24-12 at halftime, but Jena picked up some momentum to begin the second half.

The Giants failed to recover an onside kick, but picked up a fumble on second down. Jena used four plays and scored when Lamar Farris connected with Jonavan Simmons on a 9-yard pass. Craig Walker’s extra point was good and the Lumberjacks’ lead was trimmed to 24-19.

But Bogalusa responded with a long, time-consuming drive.

The Lumberjacks began at their 42 and embarked on a 13-play, 58-yard drive that took 6:03 off the clock. Facing fourth-and-5 from Jena’s 8, Tym Toussaint took the snap, rolled left and threw back to the right in the end zone to the waiting arms of Kenyatta Scott. Scott made the catch for the touchdown. The two-point conversion was no good, but the Lumberjacks had increased their lead to 30-19.

During the drive, Bogalusa converted two fourth downs, including the touchdown, and a third down.
The third down conversion was on a 14-yard pass to Scott while the other fourth down was a Toussaint scramble for 12 yards.

Jena tallied on the ensuing possession when Joe Knight ran 34 yards to pay dirt. Farris then threw to Dre Jenkins for two and Bogalusa’s lead was down to 30-27 just 20 seconds into the fourth quarter.
But Bogalusa answered once again — and again, on a long time-consuming drive. This time, the Lumberjacks went 51 yards in 11 plays and took the clock down to 5:57. The drive ended with Toussaint scoring from the 2 and then running in the two-point conversion, putting Bogalusa up, 38-27 for the final points of the contest.

On the drive, the Lumberjacks picked up a third down on a 14-yard pass from Toussaint to Caleb Greely and a 1-yard run by Toussaint. The touchdown was a first-and-goal play.

“Tym did a great job on a couple of those third downs of finding the open guy and just keeping the drives alive,” Bogalusa coach David Roberts said. “We ran the ball and ate the clock up, but we were still able to score, so it was a good deal in the second half.”

Early on, the game was back-and-forth. Jena won the toss and elected to receive, but Bogalusa’s Tyrese Cotton intercepted a pass on the game’s sixth play. The Lumberjacks capitalized in three plays when Sean Forbes scored on a 13-yard run. Toussaint ran in the two-point conversion to make it 8-0 with 8:36 left in the first quarter.

Jena scored the next 12 points. The first six occurred on the next possession when Jordan Mitchell scored on a 2-yard run. The two-point conversion was no good, keeping it 8-6 with 6:09 left in the first quarter.

The game stayed that way until the second. Bogalusa lined up to punt, but Jenkins blocked the kick at Bogalusa’s 3 and ran it in for the touchdown to put Jena ahead 12-8 after a missed two-pointer.
Bogalusa was back on the board three plays into the next drive when Toussaint kept on an option and ran 44 yards to the endzone. He then ran in for two more and Bogalusa led 16-12 with 6:46 left.

After an interception by Jamyren Ladner with 4:15 left, the Lumberjacks took over at their 43 and used the rest of the first-half clock. Toussaint capped off the drive by sneaking in from the 1 as time expired. He then put up the two-point conversion for a 24-12 lead at the break.

Bogalusa will face No. 11 Amite in the quarterfinals. Amite defeated No. 6 North Webster, 45-42. During the regular season, Bogalusa beat Amite 32-20.