Austin holds on to perfect record after dogfight with James Clemens

MADISON – The orange moon glowed over the dark trees in the distance like it was almost watching the football game at Madison City Stadium last Friday night.

James Clemens was back home after a narrow loss on the road to Sparkman a week prior.

The Jets were staring down an undefeated opponent in Austin who was keen to keep it that way.

The game that ensued was a nail-bitter for both sides that eventually went Austin’s way with the 31-28 victory.

The Black Bears (8-0) were lifted by the dynamic play of senior quarterback JL Davis who collected three touchdown passes in the win that came down to the wire.

Austin had moments where it looked like they were going to run away with this contest, but James Clemens (5-3) was resilient and always found a way to answer and eventually tie the game in the second half.

The teams scratched and clawed through the first quarter with defensive stops by both sides until Austin drew first blood with a 4-yard touchdown run by Gavin Fuqua for the early 7-0 advantage at 1:08.

When James Clemens fumbled the football on the kickoff that followed, the Black Bears went back to work early in the second quarter.

Davis was able to show off his accuracy and arm strength with a deep strike to senior wide receiver Jaxon Potter for the 46-yard TD grab that made the scoreboard gleam 14-0 in a blink.

The turnover bug continues to plague JC on the very next drive as the Jets threw an interception.

Austin burned James Clemens promptly with a Davis to Kenneth Joshua hookup from 20 yards out to expand the Black Bear lead to a stunning 21-0 at 11:24 mark of the second quarter.

James Clemens didn’t lay down and die however, as the Jets answered with their first points of the game when Ty Doughty scored on a 2-yard play with 7:46 to go before the half that made the score 21-7 Austin.

The Black Bears would bite back with a fourth touchdown near the end of the second quarter when Davis found Joshua again for a 17-yard passing score that made it 28-7 in favor of the road team.

James Clemens stayed on the attack just before the break with another TD with 0.2 on the clock to make the score read 28-14 thanks to a 36-yard linkup from junior quarterback Gakobey Gill to Doughty.

Down 14 points and getting the ball to start the third quarter, the Jets had reason to feel optimistic about this game.

JC marched down the field with a strong run by Doughty of 27 yards that turned the heat up on Austin in the second half.

James Clemens made good on all of the threatening plays with a 17yard touchdown when Gill lobbed it down the field for AJ Little for a 28-20 score.

The game came to a screeching halt after the Little touchdown as an Austin defensive player lay motionless on the turf near the goal line after being part of the collision after the catch.

Some players from both sides motioned for medical professionals to hurry over while other athletes took a knee to show respect for the injured competitor.

A hush fell over the crowd as a circle of trainers, paramedics and coaches enclosed around the hurt Austin player.

The stretcher was brought over as the fans sat and watched in silence for roughly 10 minutes as the paramedics worked on the player and strapped him to the stretcher with his helmet still on despite having his facemask removed.

The injured Black Bear was wheeled off the field and straight into a waiting ambulance.

There was an awkward break where the officials had to wait for another ambulance to be close enough to the game for safety purposes.

Once the game resumed play, James Clemens booted the PAT through the uprights to trail 28-21 with 8:54 in the third quarter.

Austin appeared to be much more shaken from the injury stoppage of almost 30 minutes as the Jets picked off a pass from Davis to instantly get the ball back.

It was a route that was beautifully jumped by the JC senior strong safety Myles Taylor.

The Taylor pick at 7:37 in the third quarter handed James Clemens the pigskin back at the 28 of Austin with all of the momentum.

A 3-yard touchdown carry through the defensive line by the Jets’ power back MJ Gideon knotted the game at 28-28 with 7:07 to go in the third quarter.

The schools traded paint the rest of the game in what became mostly a defensive struggle as neither side could seem to generate a scoring drive to win this affair.

After a huge turnover on downs by Austin with two minutes remaining, it appeared that this was the moment for the Jets to put together that signature, game-winning sequence that would send Austin home empty- handed.

But that happy little tale did not come to fruition as James Clemens stalled yet again on offense and was forced to punt the ball away with 1:40 on the clock.

Instead, the Black Bears rose up and marched down the field, eventually kicking the game-winning field goal with 4.9 left to escape this mighty test at 31-28.

The Jets are back on the road this week when they face winless Albertville (0-8) at 7 p.m. who has that massive band that is worth the price of admission just to see them boom with authority at halftime.