Jackson alive and kicking

JACKSON -- "Good job, Pork Chop."

That was just one of the many creative phrases kicker Morgan Johnson heard his teammates scream at him while celebrating after he drilled a 20-yard game-winning field goal straight through the uprights with 6.8 seconds remaining against Eureka in a Class 5 state quarterfinal contest Saturday.

Other teammates simply yelled "I love you" to Johnson, who is nicknamed Pork Chop by offensive coordinator Nathan Norman and Captain Morgan by the Jackson public address announcer.

What did running back Adam Zweigart say to Johnson?

"I loved him and that I'm glad God gave him the golden foot," said Zweigart, who helped set up Johnson's field goal with a 40-yard run to the Eureka 13-yard line.

FRED LYNCH ~ flynch@semissourian.comABOVE: Jackson's Adam Zweigart scores the first touchdown against Eureka during their Class 5 state quarterfinal game Saturday.BELOW: Jackson students celebrate on the field after the Indians' victory.

District 1 runner-up Jackson was able to drive the field in the final minute for the victory after District 1 champion Eureka tied the score 7-7 with 1:08 left.

Johnson, who missed a 32-yard field goal attempt in the third quarter, converted in the clutch, and Zweigart had a big day of his own, sprinting for 166 yards on 32 carries, as host Jackson upset Eureka 10-7.

"Oh man, this game was great," Zweigart said. "There is nothing better. We're at home. We had the loud crowd. ... Toward the end we had to buckle down and fight for it."

The Indians, winners of five straight games, advanced to play Hazelwood East in a Class 5 state semifinal game Friday at 7 p.m. on the road. It is the second straight year Jackson has made it to the state semifinal round. The Indians lost to Waynesville 25-14 in the semifinals last year.

Johnson is 7 for 10 on field goal attempts this season, with his longest being a 34-yarder.

Jackson's Morgan Johnson kicks the game-winning field goal late in the fourth quarter.

The field was muddy and the temperature was low. So Johnson had to make a few adjustments when kicking. Still, his attempt was from near the left hash mark where there was more grass than mud.

He began to think about the possibility of kicking a field goal right after Eureka tied it.

"I had to shorten my steps up and keep my feet under me," Johnson said. "That was about it. ... I came through for my team. Now we're going to the semifinals."

The game went scoreless until Zweigart sprinted 11 yards into the left side of the end zone with 11:26 remaining in the fourth quarter to give his team the lead.

The Wildcats drove 62 yards to the Jackson 12-yard line on the following drive, but the Indians stopped them on fourth-and-1.

FRED LYNCH ~ flynch@semissourian.comJackson students celebrate on the field after the Indians beat Eureka 10-7 Saturday at Jackson High School.

Eureka was not done.

It got the ball back with 5:01 remaining and drove 51 yards for a touchdown that tied it 7-7.

With 1:08 remaining, the Wildcats sent a line-drive kick to Mitchell McCulley near the 10-yard line. McCulley had trouble handling the football, which bounced off his pads and rolled in front of him. But he scooped it and ran for a 37-yard return to the Indians' 47-yard line.

"When we walked out there to do return, I had it in my mind as a mindset that I have to do this, I have to get it as far as I can," McCulley said. "I got the ball and I found a seam. My blockers and everybody on the team did a great job blocking. I found a seam and I just hit it. ... We just wanted it so bad after they tied us up. I think all of us, it was unspoken, but all 11 players as well as the team had a mindset just to get out there and get it done. And we did. Two huge plays helped us out."

The other huge play in the final minute was by Zweigart on the first play of the drive.

The senior running back, who is the second-leading rusher in Southeast Missouri with 1,785 yards on 294 carries, had a strange day. He dropped a possible touchdown pass in the third quarter. He also had three bad snaps as the long snapper and was called for a late hit while playing cornerback that aided Eureka's lone scoring drive.

But Zweigart was the only Indians back who consistently ran the ball well against Eureka's strong defense.

He took the handoff at his team's 47-yard line, found a hole and sprinted down the left sideline for a 40-yard gain to put Jackson at the Eureka 13-yard line.

"All of us were really wanting to score bad because we didn't want to [keep] playing out in the cold," Zweigart said. "Everyone was getting cold. Like against Chaminade [which went two overtimes], that was way too close a call. We didn't want another one of those ballgames."

Jackson coach Van Hitt said Eureka was expecting the Jackson offense to pass the ball on first down.

"Coach Norman did an excellent job with that," Hitt said. "Because they were expecting pass. Everybody in the stadium thought we'd try to throw the long ball. And then Adam, once he gets his space, can cover some ground in a hurry. So we ran the power play and they had backed off a little bit, gave him some running room, [gave] him a little alley and he got the ball down there."

Jackson ran the ball the next three plays to get closer and took some time off the clock before calling out Johnson instead of trying for the first down on fourth-and-1.

"There was no question in my mind about it," Hitt said about going for the field goal. "We've got an excellent kicker and the ball was in a good part of the field. ... It wasn't slick. There was grass there. So I knew we'd get a good snap, get it down and up ... because he's a good kicker. Got all the confidence in the world in him."