Jacks fall short in shootout

Published 11:42 pm Friday, September 27, 2019

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Bogalusa’s Lumberjacks came up on the short end of a high-scoring game Friday night, as visiting East Marion left with a 48-44 victory.

The game featured many lead changes and came down to the final seconds. East Marion scored with 36 seconds left in the fourth quarter to go ahead, and Bogalusa had a chance to drive for the winning score, but came up short as the clock expired.

“I tip my hat to East Marion,” Bogalusa coach Adam Brumfield said. “They played a great game and they did what it took to win.”

The Lumberjacks fell behind 12-0 early, but bounced back to take a 21-20 lead at halftime. Bogalusa also led 28-26 after three quarters of play.

“We came out a little flat to start tonight,” Brumfield said. “Obviously we were coming off an exciting, emotional win over our rival Franklinton, so this might have been a ‘trap game.’ We started slow and it affected us.”

East Marion scored its first touchdown with 3:59 left in the first quarter, when quarterback Devin Daniels completed a 15-yard touchdown pass to Carlos Stubbs. Le’juan Lewis attempted the two-point conversion run but was stopped.

The Eagles added a second touchdown on a 32-yard run by Daniels with 11:45 left in the second quarter. Daniels’ scoring run came on a fourth-and-14 play. Again, the two-point conversion failed and East Marion led 12-0.

Bogalusa broke onto the scoreboard with 6:06 in the second when quarterback Josh Taylor passed to Tajdryn Forbes for a 12-yard touchdown. It was one of Forbes’ three touchdowns during the night. Taylor added the extra point.

After holding the Eagles to three-and-out on the next drive, Bogalusa took its first lead just one play later. On first-and-10 from the Bogalusa 24, Taylor hit Forbes with a short pass and he made a cut before running away from the defense for a 76-yard touchdown reception with 3:53 left in the second. Taylor’s extra point put Bogalusa ahead, 14-12.

East Marion retook the lead at 20-14 with 1:52 left, after a 16-yard touchdown pass from Daniels to Deundre Ruffin and a two-point conversion run by Ruffin. The Lumberjacks had a response, with Taylor connecting with Raheem Roberts for a 4-yard touchdown pass with just six seconds left in the first half. Taylor’s extra point put Bogalusa back in front, 21-20.

It continued to be a back-and-forth contest in the second half. East Marion’s Lewis scored on a 9-yard touchdown run with 5:11 left in the third, and the two-point conversion run was no good but the Eagles still moved back in front, 26-21.

Again, Bogalusa responded, with Taylor scoring on a 4-yard touchdown run with 3:45 left in the third quarter. His extra point gave the Lumberjacks a 28-26 lead.

On the next drive, Bogalusa sacked the quarterback on fourth down, but two plays later an interception returned the ball right back to the Eagles. East Marion took advance, putting together a four-play drive that went 43 yards and ended with an 18-yard touchdown pass from Daniels to Demetrius Allen with 11:54 left in the fourth quarter. Daniels ran for the two-point conversion to put his team back in the lead by a 34-28 score.

The Lumberjacks re-took the lead with 8:44 left in the fourth quarter. Taylor ran for a 10-yard touchdown run but was shaken up on the play, so Jarvis Dawson played quarterback on the two-point conversion run and was successful — putting the Lumberjacks ahead 36-34. Taylor later returned to the game.

Both teams then had drives that ended in turnovers, but Bogalusa’s mistake proved more costly. The Lumberjacks fumbled at the Bogalusa 12 and East Marion’s Ladarrius Watts picked it up for a touchdown return. Daniels’ two-point conversion run put the Eagles ahead 42-36 with 6:39 left in the game.

The Lumberjacks kept fighting and regained the lead with 3:25 remaining, when Taylor connected with Forbes for a 17-yard touchdown. After two East Marion penalties, Bogalusa elected to go for two rather than kick the extra point, and Taylor was successful on the run — putting Bogalusa back in front by the score of 44-42.

Yet again, the Eagles had success on Bogalusa’s defense, putting together an eight-play drive that was all runs and went 60 yards. Latral Waller scored on an 11-yard run with 36 seconds left in the game, and the two-point conversion run failed but the Eagles still led 48-44.

Bogalusa started its final drive on the 40 but time ran out at the East Marion 38 when Taylor was tackled at the end of a play and Bogalusa was out of timeouts.

The Lumberjacks fell to 2-2 overall, and will travel to face Varnado next Friday.