Confusion sinks Jackson football team's last-minute rally vs. O'Fallon Christian

It was a fatal case of too much confusion and too little time for the Jackson Indians football team Friday night.

With the game's fate hanging in the balance in the closing seconds, red jerseys were everywhere around the O'Fallon Christian 10-yard line.

Jackson trailed by three points and ran a play from the Eagles' 10 with about 25 seconds left in the game. Indians junior Lowgn Wren, playing his first varsity game at quarterback, had just rolled out to the right side of the field and failed to find a receiver before tucking away the ball and getting tackled for no gain.

Jackson already had burned both its remaining timeouts on the 12-play drive that started at its own 20 with 4 minutes, 52 seconds left, but there was time for another play.

But which play? And by whom?

O'Fallon Christian's Frank Davis unsuccessfully tries to sack Jackson quarterback Lowgn Wren during the second quarter Friday in Jackson. (Kristin Eberts)

As Wren tried to gather the offense back to the line to try to kill the clock, he was met by the field goal unit.

The 14 seconds left after Wren was tackled was nowhere near enough time to sort out the confusion. The ball was snapped as time expired and flags flew.

It proved to be the final flaw in a 33-30 loss to Christian, a Class 2 school that christened its varsity program just last season with a loss to Jackson.

The closing moments were a lot to throw at an offensive unit that was running a new offense and started just two seniors as well as three sophomores, in addition to Wren debuting at quarterback.

"There was a little confusion out there," Jackson coach Van Hitt said. "We were trying to get the field goal team on, and [Wren] was trying to get the offense to the line to stop the clock.

"We should of never had the sack there, but Lowgn was just trying to win the ballgame. As he matures as a quarterback, I doubt he ever makes that mistake again. He'll mature and learn from it."

The confusion persisted after the game.

"The coaches, when we went in the huddle, told us if we don't get the first down or don't get out of bounds, try to hurry up and spike the ball," Wren said. "That was the original plan. But when I came up and was looking, our field goal team was coming out. So we had way too many guys on the field. Everybody was confused on where to go."

There was no confusion where the victory ranked for Christian, which went 2-6 in its maiden season. Its only other wins were against Lift for Life and St. Peters Lutheran, both considerably smaller schools than Class 5 Jackson.

"This is the biggest yet," Christian coach Andy Hare said. "This is huge for us. To beat a team with the history of Jackson, and the number of players that they have and so many people from the town being out here. I can't ask for anything better than this."

Christian senior quarterback Brendan Norwine threw for three touchdowns and ran for a fourth. Two of Norwine's touchdowns went to sophomore Dentrell Prince, who also picked up a first-quarter fumble and returned it 33 yards for a touchdown.

"It was kind of like a low blow," Wren said about the loss. "We've been playing football from like the 1920s and they started a year ago. It was just one of those deals. I think it was part of everybody being new to it -- new offense and everybody getting used to it.

"Everybody has something they can improve on. I didn't do very well myself. I kind of got frustrated early in the game and carried it with me throughout."

Jackson was returning to a run attack after it tabled its pass-oriented spread offense of the past few seasons. The Indians primarily ran out of the I on Friday and rushed for 204 yards.

Sophomore Colten Proffer gained 163 yards on 25 carries in his varsity debut. Wren also completed 5 of 9 passes for 95 yards, including a 62-yard catch-and-run touchdown pass to junior Brandon Wright.

Jackson's 299 yards of offense were more than Christian's 268 yards, but the Indians were haunted by four first-half fumbles that were recovered by the Eagles.

Jackson fumbled on its first offensive play, which also was Proffer's first varsity carry.

The Indians went right back to Proffer on the first three plays of their next possession, and he peeled off 23 yards to move Jackson to the Eagles' 38-yard line. Two plays later, fellow sophomore Garrett Miller broke loose for a 37-yard touchdown run. A 2-point conversion gave Jackson an 8-0 lead with 6 minutes, 21 seconds left in the first quarter.

Christian closed the gap to 8-6 when Prince scooped up a Proffer fumble on Jackson's next possession and returned it for a touchdown.

"Cover up that ball, but other than that, [Proffer] and Garrett Miller did a great job," Wren said. "I was so proud of them. I was so happy to see them do good. I have high hopes for them in the future."

Jackson moved the ball on offense but was haunted by fumbles. Jackson turned over the ball on fumbles on four of its first six possessions and had a total of six fumbles in the first half.

Jackson's fourth turnover also proved costly. Wren mishandled a snap and the ball was picked up by Christian lineman Justin Findlay, who rumbled 32 yards before being tackled by Miller at the Jackson 7. Norwine covered the remaining yards on the next play for a 12-8 Christian lead with 2:44 left in the half.

Christian then stunned Jackson with two more touchdowns.

Norwine connected with Lance Lehmann, who pulled in a 26-yard strike between two Jackson defenders just inside the right side of the end zone with 20 seconds left in the half for a 19-8 lead.

The ensuing kickoff then hit the heel of one of the Jackson up men and was recovered by the Eagles at the Indians' 47.

On the next play, Norwine followed the luck with a perfect strike to Prince on a fly route down the right sideline for a touchdown with 11 seconds left in the half.

"Those were just two beautiful throws and two beautiful catches," Hare said.

Christian entered the locker room with a 26-8 lead despite fewer yards and first downs than Jackson.

"We didn't come out and hang our heads," Hitt said. "We came out the second half and hung in there and put some points on the board and made some things happen offensively, defensively. We got right back in it but never could quite get over the hump."

Jackson used Christian's quick-strike recipe in the second half.

Christian fumbled the ball on its first play and Jackson recovered at the Eagles' 10.

Jackson needed one play to score when Proffer busted through a pair of Eagles at the 5 and scored standing up with 9:58 left in the third quarter.

Just 12 seconds later, Wright stepped in front of a Norwine pass intended for Lehmann and returned it 22 yards down the left sideline for a touchdown to cut the gap to 26-23.

"I thought we had the momentum turned for us, and we did for a little while," Wright said. "We just couldn't keep it going."

Christian converted on two third downs on its next possession, including a 37-yard scoring pass on third-and-8 when Norwine lofted another pass that a closely defended Prince pulled down in the end zone. The catch gave Christian a 33-23 lead with 5:34 left in the third quarter.

Jackson needed just two plays to counter when Wright took a short pass from Wren on the left side and cut back across the field and sped down the right sideline for a 62-yard touchdown with 4:33 left in the period. Adam Brown's kick cut the lead to 33-30.

Jackson later punted on the first play of the fourth quarter, and Christian took over at its own 25. The Eagles kept possession for nearly 7 minutes with a 16-play drive that was aided by three Jackson penalties, including a pass interference on a third-and-25 play that gave the Eagles one of their four first downs on the march.

Jackson finally took over on downs at its own 20 with 4:52 left but saw its drive run out of time.

"I believe we'll get better as we go on," Wren said. "It's an experience thing. We've got a lot of young guys. Almost everybody on offense, that was their first time playing varsity. The first game, get the jitters out. I think we'll be ready to go next week."

Jackson travels to Parkway South in Week 2.

Christian 6 20 7 0 -- 33

Jackson 8 0 22 0 -- 30

First Quarter

J -- Garrett Miller 37 run (Nick Cooper run), 6:21

C -- Dentrell Prince 33 fumble (pass failed), 3:57

Second Quarter

C -- Brendan Norwine 7 run (pass fails), 2:44

C -- Lance Lehmann 26 pass from Norwine (Norwine kick), :20

C -- Prince 47 pass from Norwine (Norwine kick), :11

Third Quarter

J -- Colten Proffer 10 run (Ty Selsor to Skyler Steele), 9:58

J -- Brandon Wright 22 interception (Adam Brown kick), 9:46

C -- Prince 37 pass from Norwine (Norwine kick), 5:34

J -- Wright 62 pass from Wren (Brown kick), 4:33

C J

First downs 13 15

Rushes-yards 25-78 46-204

Passing yards 190 95

Passes 11-24-1 5-9-0

Punts 5-35.0 3-35.6

Fumbles-lost 3-2 7-4

Penalties-yards 8-60 7-50

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- Christian, Logan Logsdam 5-3, Norwine 18-57, Prince 1-22, team 1-(-4); Jackson, Proffer 25-163, Ken Maudie 3-10, Miller 11-38, Wren 7-(-7)

PASSING -- Christian, Norwine 11-24-190-1; Jackson, Wren 5-9-95-0

RECEIVING -- Christian, Lehmann 2-57, Corey Light 1-4, Prince 4-100, Logsdam 1-(-5), Jake Hare 2-31, A.J. Wynn 1-3; Jackson, Levi Rutherford 1-3, Taylor Henson 1-8, Steele 1-11, Wright 1-62, Maudie 1-11