News-Times Staff
FORDYCE - The fourth time proved to be the lucky charm for Junction City, as Dhante Gibson’s 1-yard run on fourth-and-goal with five seconds left coupled with Jack Smith’s extra point lifted the Dragons to a 7-6 win over Fordyce in an 8-2A showdown Friday night.
The win clinches the 8-2A title for the Dragons (5-2, 4-0), who won their fourth straight, while the Redbugs (5-3, 3-1) saw their five-game winning streak come to an end.
“I’m proud of our kids and how hard we played, but we won’t be satisfied with that,” said Junction City coach Steven Jones. “We want to keep getting better.”
For a time, it looked like the Redbugs’ defense was going to turn away the Dragons on their fourth trip to the red zone in the second half.
After Brady Hutcheson connected with Kevontae Haynes on a 32-yard pass play to give the Dragons a first down at Fordyce’s 15, Gibson netted eight yards on two carries to set up a third-and-2 from the 7.
Hutcheson then picked up the first down with a 5-yard run to the 2.
However, Fordyce’s defense dug in and stopped Hutcheson on three straight tries, forcing fourth-and-goal from the 1.
But on the decisive play, Gibson was able to cross the goal line and tie the game, setting up Smith’s crucial extra point that gave the Dragons the lead for good.
“The O-line did a good job of keeping their feet moving,” Jones said of Gibson’s touchdown.
On three earlier occasions, the Dragons drove into Fordyce’s red zone, but turned the ball over twice before the Redbugs’ defense held on a fourth-and-5 from the 13 early in the fourth quarter.
Junction City’s defense also turned in a solid effort, and they helped set up the game-winning drive by forcing Fordyce to punt with just under four minutes to play in the game.
Gibson and Jvacye Cook also intercepted passes in the second half for the Dragons, while Jakiron Cook had 10 tackles.
Gibson finished with 145 yards on 25 carries with his aforementioned game-winning touchdown.
“He did a good job of running downhill,” Jones said.
Overall, the Dragons had 273 yards of total offense with 197 of those yards coming on the ground.
Junction City will step out of conference play and take on Hector next Friday in a game that will be played at Henderson State.