Jackson suffers first loss in Class 5 semifinals

~ Waynesville rallied for a 25-14 victory in the Class 5 semifinals.

WAYNESVILLE, Mo. -- When Jackson's Cody Randen returned the opening kickoff of the Class 5 semifinal game against Waynesville 92 yards for a touchdown, it appeared as though it was going to be a good day for the Indians.

And it looked that way even more so when Indians quarterback Marcus Harris connected with Matt Lang about 49 seconds into the second quarter to give Jackson a 14-0 lead.

But Waynesville's players weren't a bit worried, especially running back/linebacker L.J. Fort.

"Everybody was just looking around each other like, 'This ain't going to happen; they aren't going to stop us from our dream; they aren't going to stop us from where we want to be,'" Fort said. "I'm sure a lot of people got down, but deep inside we knew we were going to come out with it. We always do."

Jackson quarterback Marcus Harris dropped back to pass against Waynesville Friday night.

Fort and his teammates refused to hang their heads down 14 points. The senior rushed for 255 yards and three touchdowns on 31 carries as the Tigers posted 25 unanswered points and beat Jackson 25-14 on Friday night at Waynesville High School.

The Tigers' victory earned them a ticket to the Class 5 championship game against Belton next Saturday night at 6:30 p.m. at Edward Jones Dome. Waynesville improved its record to 11-1 and the Indians ended their season, falling to 11-1.

Fort said it was not him but the offensive line that gave the Indians problems. Fort rushed for 181 yards in the second half alone.

"Our line was killing them," Fort said. "I was getting five yards a carry. That was basically it. They couldn't stop it."

Cody Randen said his team felt good early but just could not hold on.

Jamie Schumacher, left, and Jake Wren joined forces to tackle Waynesville running back LJ Fort Friday night. Fort ran for 255 yards on the night. (Kit Doyle)

"We got the momentum but we didn't hold it up," Randen said. "We played a good game. It was a lot of frustration."

Fort scored a rushing touchdown for the Tigers with 3:03 left in the second to cut the lead to 14-6. Tigers' Aaron Cruz missed the extra point attempt.

"I think the big thing was we came back in the second quarter," Waynesville coach Rick Vernon said. "We did some very good things in the second quarter to come back in halftime at 14-6. We just challenged our kids and made some great adjustments at halftime."

Vernon said he did not make any adjustments at halftime to the offense but instead just the defense. He said he felt offensively, his linemen blocked better in the second half and the momentum shifted. He said defensively, he slanted his line differently and sent linebackers more to put more pressure on the Jackson offense.

Waynesville scored on three of its first four drives to open the second half. Its first strike came with 8:18 remaining in the third quarter with Fort rushing one in from 6-yards out. The two-point conversion attempt by the Tigers failed and Jackson led just 14-12.

Jackson seniors huddled on the field one last time after their 25-14 semifinal loss to Waynesville in the Class 5 semifinals Friday night in Waynesville, Mo. (Kit Doyle)

Fort then scored a 77-yard touchdown run with 17 seconds remaining in the third quarter to allow Waynesville to take its first lead of the game at 18-14. The Tigers again had another unsuccessful two-point try.

Early in the fourth quarter Jackson's Kevin Pridemore recovered a fumble on the Tigers' 30-yard line to give the Jackson offense good field position. The Indians drove as close as the 8-yard line before failing to convert a fourth down from the 11-yard line.

That was the second time in the second half the Jackson offense drove down into the red zone but failed to score. The other came on a fourth-down play from the 4-yard line with three minutes remaining in the third quarter.

Both misses were passes to Lang.

"We had momentum going and we had been moving the football," Jackson coach Carl Gross said about the two decisions not to kick field goals and go for it one fourth down. "My coaches, my kids, they all wanted to go for it so we did."

Cody Randon took the opening kickoff back for a touchdown Friday night in Waynesville.

Harris said about the two plays: "We felt like we could get something on them passing the ball there," Harris said. "Again it came down to execution. Can't take anything away from them."

Waynesville made it 25-14 on pass from Lyle Cox to T.R Raines with 2:34 remaining.

For the Indians, Adam Zweigart rushed 26 times for 150 yards. Marcus Harris competed 3-of-13 passes for 54 yards.

"It feels awesome, Fort said. "Best feeling in the world."