On October 13, the Pelahatchie Chiefs faced the Pisgah Dragons. After falling to Leake County by one point the week before, the Chiefs were eager to make a statement against the Dragons. On the other hand, a one point loss against the St. Andrew’s Episcopal Saints fueled the Dragon’s desire to win. The Chiefs were 1-6 while the Pisgah Dragons were 2-5.
As always, the Chief’s key component is their run game. So far this season, the Chief’s biggest threat has been freshman running back Damarion Snow. Snow has had multiple 100+ yard performances, one of which against St. Andrew’s Episcopal, where he racked up 233 rushing yards.
Like Pelahatchie, running the ball is the strongest part of Pisgah’s game. Senior running back Paxton Cottingham has accumulated over 1,000 rushing yards this season, averaging 116.3 per game. Additionally, Cottingham has scored 13 touchdowns on the season.
The first quarter was rough for both teams, each having multiple turnovers on downs. At one point, Chiefs junior quarterback Javion Magee almost connected to junior wide receiver Myles Stringer on a deep pass, but it resulted in an incompletion. For both teams, their lack of success was due to an unusually slow start running the ball.
After a scoreless first quarter, the Dragons quickly jumped to an 8-0 lead. On the first set of downs of the quarter, Paxton Cottingham made a touchdown run up the left side and ran up the middle on the next play for a two-point conversion to give them the lead.
The Chiefs started off their drive strong with a 42 yard kickoff return from sophomore linebacker Ryder Phillips. Running backs Damarion Snow and Tate Hopson collaborated on multiple rushes to put the Chiefs past the 50 yard line. Wide receiver Myles Stringer then ran a screen route and was able to get 45 yards after the catch for a touchdown to shorten the lead to 8-7.
The Chiefs continued their dominance, shutting down the Pisgah run game and forcing a punt. A run from Tate Hopson and a catch from Ethan Hagood put the Chiefs towards the middle of the field. Unfortu nately, two false starts pushed the Chiefs back to 1st and 20, and after a incomplete pass from Javion Magee, the Chiefs were left to punt to cap off the half.
To begin the third quarter, Pisgah began with bad field position after a fumble on the kickoff. The Dragons quickly turned it around, however, driving downfield with Paxton Cottingham into field goal range. On fourth down, sophomore quarterback Parker Hill threw an incomplete pass for a turnover on downs.
With the ball back, Pelahatchie senior wide receiver Braden Laughlin had a 10 yard reception for a first down. Under pressure, Javion Magee ran up the middle for a 50 yard touchdown to put the Chiefs up 13-8. During a two-point conversion, Magee targeted Tate Hopson but the pass was too low and ruled incomplete.
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