Comeback victory

JEANERETTE -- A heads-up play by Franklin receiver Ryan Sorrell and a controversial call by the officials on an apparent interception by Jeanerette defensive back Darion Hurst set up the winning score in Franklin’s 20-18, come-from-behind win over their Louisiana Highway 182 rivals Thursday at Jeanerette’s Tiger Stadium.

With the Hornets trailing for most of the game and still behind 18-12 with about five minutes remaining, Franklin quarterback Gregory “Chase” Boykins dropped back to pass and lofted a throw down the left sideline.

Hurst caught the ball in stride and took a couple of steps, apparently ending the drive, but Sorrell then reached out and grabbed the ball and both players had possession as they went out of bounds. The referees ruled it a dual catch, giving possession to the FSH offense at the Jeanerette 13. Three plays later, Boykins connected with Titus Guilbeaux on a fade pattern for the tying touchdown at the 4:33 mark, and after a pass interference call gave the Hornets a second chance at a 2-point conversion, Boykins strolled untouched into the end zone over left tackle for the game-winning points.

Franklin improved to 2-2 with the win, while Jeanerette fell to 1-4.

“I caught it and he tried to take it from me,” Sorrell said after the game. “It was a good call from the referee and a big play for us.”

A big play, yes, but not a good call in the eyes of JSH coach Terry Washington, who saw his team play well but suffer another bitter defeat. The Tigers are 1-4 but two of those losses are by a combined 9 points and another was a 14-0 loss that also could easily have been a JSH win.

“I’ve been doing it for 17 years and I haven’t seen refereeing that bad,” said Washington. “The kids played well. You just hate for a game to end up being decided on some calls by the officials. The interception -- there ain’t no way (it was a Franklin catch). You’re going to tell me my kid has the ball, and their kid puts his hand on the ball and he gives the ball to them?”

Washington was also upset at the number of penalties -- each team had nine flags, with JSH penalized 81 yards and Franklin penalized 80 yards.

“One guy I know threw six or seven flags,” said Washington. “I’m not saying that’s the reason we lost the game, but the game should’ve been determined by the kids.

“We also made some mistakes. I told the kids when we’re up 18-6 in the fourth quarter, we can’t make those mistakes. We had 12 men on the field one time. There were some other plays we could’ve done better. We should’ve done a better job when we had them on the ropes.”

And the Hornets were on the ropes for much of the game. After stopping Franklin on three negative-yardage plays to open the game, the Tigers had to drive only 38 yards on their first possession to take the lead.

Quarterback Kurt Bouie slipped three or four tackles on a third-down carry from the 13 with 6:54 remaining to put Jeanerette up 6-0 with 6:54 left in the first period.

Franklin tied the score after JSH muffed a punt that Melvin Willis recovered at the Jeanerette 21. The Hornets converted a fourth-and-10 play with a 15-yard pass from Boykins to Jared Hilliard, and three plays later, Boykins hit Guilbeaux for a nine-yard TD pass that knotted the score with 2:36 remaining in the first period.

Jeanerette came right back to take the lead on its next possession, with Darius Boutte going in from eight yards out to cap a 10-play drive, aided by two pass interference calls against Franklin, one on a fourth-down play. Boutte, who led JSH with 77 yards on 21 carries, also converted another fourth-down play to keep the drive going, setting up his TD two plays later.

The Tigers made it 18-6 after marching 71 yards on their opening drive of the second half, with Anthony Williams getting scoring honors on a 15-yard run with 7:59 to go in the third quarter.

Things looked good for Jeanerette at that point, particularly after Terrance Armelin made a beautiful diving interception of a Boykins pass at the JSH 10-yard line to end one Franklin scoring threat.

To that point, Franklin had amassed only 50 rushing yards and 36 passing yards on six completions in 20 attempts. The Hornets also had eight penalties for 75 yards through three quarters, many of which either killed their own possessions or kept JSH drives going.

“We got inside the Jeanerette red zone twice (in the third quarter), and dropped a touchdown pass and threw an interception,” said FSH coach Zeb Simon. “But the kids didn’t quit. They came back. I’d rather be 2-2 at this point than 0-4.”

And the Hornets turned things around in the fourth quarter, forcing JSH into two three-and-out series on defense and scoring on their first two offensive possessions of the period. The Hornets’ first TD of the period was set up by Shaquille Conner’s 25-yard punt return to the Jeanerette 18. Three plays later, Tremayne Johnson went in from a yard out to make it 18-12 with 8:14 remaining.

Then came the game-winning drive, aided by the dual-possession call and the pass interference on the Hornets’ initial 2-point try after the score had been tied, giving Boykins the chance to put the game away.

“We were telling them to keep their heads in the game,” said Boykins of what his coaches and he discussed with the team at halftime. “There’s a long way to go. We had to put it together. Our defense stepped up big.”

“It was another nailbiter,” said Simon, whose team had already played two overtime games on Thursday nights this season. “At halftime our composure wasn’t there. Chase lost confidence in our offensive line. We made a couple of adjustments on the line.”

Those adjustments, and Boykins putting his legs to good use with 67 rushing yards after finishing the first half with minus-10 yards on the ground, made the difference, along with the big fourth-quarter defensive stops.

“I’ll take a win, whether it’s ugly or pretty,” said Simon, who coached at JSH until two years ago. “Jeanerette was well-prepared for us. Those kids really wanted to play hard.

“They came after us. They did everything they needed to do.”

Franklin plays at St. Helena Central next Friday. Jeanerette opens District 7-2A play at home against Donaldsonville.

“This is going to be tough (to bounce back from),” said Washington. “We’ve got to regroup. District starts next week, and it’s not going to get any easier.”