Woodford County had plenty of chances to fold Friday night. But the Jackets showed plenty of heart in what appeared to be a blowout loss for one half. Instead, they fought back.
Down 7-0 just 11 seconds into the game. Down 21-3 in the second quarter. Down 27-3 with less than a minute remaining before halftime. They kept fighting.
On the road, more than five hours from home, against one of Tennessee’s top teams, the Yellow Jackets instead fought their way back into a football game that appeared to be getting away from them.
Woodford scored 27 of the final 34 points and came within one defensive stop of having an opportunity to complete the comeback before falling 34-30 to Munford on Friday, Sept. 11.
Munford entered the night ranked third in Tennessee’s Class 5A by the Tennessee Sports Writers Association and No. 20 overall in The Tennessean’s Super 25. The Cougars had overwhelmed their first two opponents by a combined score of 119-0.
Woodford gave them everything they could handle.
The Jackets pulled within four on Foxx Coons’ 38-yard touchdown pass to Kael Rihtar with 8:44 remaining and then needed only to get the ball back.
They never did.
Munford converted a pair of fourth downs on its final possession and ran out the clock, finally ending a Woodford comeback that had lasted nearly the entire second half.
Munford’s start offered little indication the game would still be undecided in the closing minutes.
The Cougars returned the opening kickoff for a 75-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead just 11 seconds into the game.
Woodford responded, refusing to let the early blow dictate the night.
Coons connected with Rihtar for 30 yards on the Jackets’ opening possession. Coons took a pair of hard hits during the drive, but Woodford moved close enough for a 33-yard field goal that cut Munford’s lead to 7-3.
Woodford’s defense then forced a punt, but the field began tilting toward Munford in the second quarter.
After Woodford’s next possession stalled, the Jackets’ punt appeared to be deflected and Munford took over at the Woodford 42. Tay Starks broke a pair of long runs to get the Cougars to the 2.
Woodford stuffed Munford on three straight plays near the goal line before Starks finally scored on fourth down from a yard out.
A Woodford fumble gave the Cougars another short field, and Jaheim Smith eventually scored on a 3-yard run to increase Munford’s lead to 21-3.
The Jackets had a chance to respond after a roughing-the-passer penalty extended their next possession but eventually turned the ball over on downs.
Munford went back to the ground, drained time from the clock and appeared to deliver another major blow when Starks scored on a 2-yard run with 29 seconds remaining in the half.
Woodford blocked the extra-point, but the Jackets were staring at a 27-3 deficit.
They could have gone quietly into halftime.
Instead, the comeback began.
Wyatt Peters took the ensuing kickoff and raced 73 yards for a touchdown. Suddenly, it was 27-10.
Woodford then recovered an onside kick, giving the Jackets another opportunity before halftime. Wolfe’s field-goal attempt missed as time expired, but the final seconds of the half had changed the feeling of the game.
Woodford carried it into the third quarter.
Ryan Brown picked up a first down on the opening possession of the half, and a Munford pass interference penalty eventually gave Woodford first-and-goal at the 9. Coons scrambled to the 1 before Brown finished the drive with a touchdown run.
The deficit had shrunk from 24 to 10 at 27-17.
Munford answered with the type of play that had allowed it to build the big first-half lead. Starks broke free for a 45-yard touchdown run, putting the Cougars back ahead 34-17.
Once again, Woodford answered.
Aidyn Powell scored on a 25-yard touchdown run. The extra-point was no good, but the Jackets had cut the lead to 34-23.
And they were not finished.
Munford went back to its powerful running game, but Woodford’s defense eventually made the stop it needed early in the fourth quarter. Josiah McKee made two tackles for loss during the series, helping force a Munford punt and giving the offense another opportunity.
That possession nearly stalled before it could become anything.
Brown opened it with a first-down run, but a holding penalty put the Jackets behind the chains. Woodford eventually faced fourth-and-18 from its own 38.
One incomplete pass would have left Munford with the football and an 11-point lead in the fourth quarter.
Instead, Coons found Greyson Hodge for 35 yards and a first down.
The Jackets were still alive.
Coons then connected with Rihtar for a 38-yard touchdown. The extra-point made it 34-30 with 8:44 remaining.
A game that had looked like it might become a runaway in the second quarter had become a four-point game in the fourth.
Woodford had scored 27 points after falling behind 27-3.
Now the Jackets needed the football one more time.
Munford made sure they never got it.
The Cougars stayed with the running game that produced over 300 yards and began grinding away both yards and seconds. Woodford forced Munford into fourth-and-short at the Jackets’ 44 with approximately four minutes remaining, but Dixon Mooningham picked up the first down.
Woodford got another opportunity when Munford later faced fourth-and-2 at the Jackets’ 30.
A stop would give Coons and the Woodford offense the ball with an opportunity to drive for the winning touchdown.
Starks carried for the first down.
Munford was able to take the remaining time off the clock.
The Cougars finished 5-for-5 on fourth down, including the two conversions on the final possession that prevented Woodford from getting its last opportunity.
The Jackets did not get the win, but they showed they could absorb the kind of first half that can bury a team and continue playing.
The Jackets will enter Friday night’s game at George Rogers Clark battle-tested after a war in Tennessee. Kickoff against the Cardinals is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.