Stephens County football wins 19-14 thriller against Madison County

The situation appeared bleak for the Stephens County Indians. Trailing by a point with less than two minutes left, the Indians covered 88 yards in 38 seconds to score the game-winning touchdown and extend its winning streak to four games. The clutch drive ended with a 37-yard touchdown pass from Ben Stowe to Cam’ron Lacy and a 19-14 triumph over Madison County that put SCHS at 4-0 for the first time since 2012. Despite the Indians being called for 18 penalties for 152 yards versus the Red Raider’s five penalties for 30 yards, the Tribe clawed, fought and found a way to win, coach Wesley Tankersley said.

“It was really kind of an unbelievable thing to be honest with you,” Tankersley said. “Everything was going against us, really from the first quarter on, after we scored our first touchdown and then got a stop. But everything kept going against us after that.  “The kids kept fighting throughout all of the adversity and just kept playing,” Tankersley said. “I think a lot of it goes to show we have a lot of great young men, a lot of great character kids and they just did not give up. “They kept doing what we keep preaching, everyday effort attitude and toughness. We keep preaching it every day and I think it came through at the end tonight for sure,” Tankersley said.

Lacy made the heroic play that led the Indians to their fourth straight win. Despite being the hero of the game, Lacy was quick to give credit to his offensive line and complimented his quarterback for the game-winning throw.

“It feels great man, but it was a team effort,” Lacy said. “The team helped me more than I did.”

Before the dramatic ending, a scoreless first quarter occurred. The scoreless game ended when Indian quarterback Stowe scored on a 9-yard touchdown dash. After Indian kicker Braden Morris booted the extra point to give the Indians a 7-0 lead in the second quarter. Later in the second, the Red Raiders evened it up. Madison County scored off an option play. The ball was pitched to Trey Slayton who ran for a 44-yard touchdown. The point after kick knotted the game at 7-7.

The Indians surged in front in the waning seconds of the first half when Morris added a 25-yard field goal despite Madison County’s efforts calling two timeouts to ice the Indian kicker. The successful kick gave SCHS a 10-7 lead going into the second half. In the first half, the Indians were called for 10 penalties for 82 yards while Madison County was called for one penalty for five yards. In the third quarter, the Red Raiders went ahead when they scored on another option play. This time it was Zane Milz who took the pitch and finished off a six-yard rushing touchdown. That gave Madison a 14-10 advantage.

Later in the third period, SCHS put together a long drive and got it to the 1-yard line after a long pass to Lacy. After the completion SCHS was called for illegal participation. The Indians went for it on fourth down but their pass fell incomplete. A few plays later SCHS got the ball back when they recovered a Madison fumble. Running back Tyson Everett rushed for a 23-yard gain to move the Indians deeper into Madison territory.

On the first play of the final quarter, Everett rambled 17 yards. With the drive stalled a few plays later, Morris came back on the field and nailed a 22-yard field goal drawing the Indians to within a single point at 14-13. On Madison County’s ensuing drive, the Indians forced them to punt near their own end zone. The Red Raider punter dropped the ball and picked it up then punted. The punter got hit and the Indians were called for roughing the punter. A few plays later, SCHS got the ball back when the Indian defense came up with a strip and a fumble recovery. The Indians got the ball back with four minutes left in the game but were forced to punt. Madison County started with the ball on their own 40-yard line with 2:37 left to go in the game. The Red Raiders ran three rushing plays and the SCHS defense stopped them without getting a first down. The Indians burned their last three timeouts on that drive.

Madison punted the ball, and the ball was muffed but the Indians recovered the ball on their own 12-yard line with 2:12 left to go in the game – 88 yards away from keeping their winning streak alive. The first play was an incomplete pass. On the next play, Stowe connected with Lacy for a 32-yard reception to move the ball to the 44-yard line. On the next play, Stowe rifled a pass to Corey Richie that was tipped but Richie still caught the ball and ran out of bounds on the 38-yard line. Richie caught another pass for six yards and stepped out of bounds. After that play, SCHS was called for a false start which moved the ball back to the Madison 37.

That was the storm before the rainbow. After that false start, the Indians were blessed with a big play. In shotgun formation, Stowe was forced to scramble looking down field. Stowe heaved the ball downfield. Lacy ran five yards to his left  to get under it then jumped to catch the ball. Afterward he made a Madison defender miss and darted toward the sideline. Lacy then raced toward paydirt, hurdling a Red Raider player and landing in the end zone with a touchdown to put SCHS in front 19-14 with 1:34 left in the game. The Indians went for two but had an incomplete pass. 

“Make the play. No one wants to lose. I am trying to stay undefeated all year. No one wants to lose so I had to make a play,” Lacy said.

Madison County got the ball back on their 30-yard line. Their last ditch drive was short lived when Vadole Fleming snagged an interception and took it to the house, but SCHS was called for one more penalty. The Indians were called for blocking in the back on the return, but maintained possession of the ball allowing them to deploy in victory formation. The Indians will put their 4-0 record on the line at rival Habersham Central there Friday at 7:30 p.m.