Durant wins by ‘inches’

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Stan Beall

September 23, 2009

Anonymous The Star Herald Wed Sep 23, 2009, 09:26 AM CDT

The Durant Tigers were just inches and a couple seconds away from being something besides the No. 1-ranked Class 1A football team in Mississippi.

With time running down in last week's showdown between visiting Greenville St. Joseph and Durant, the Irish got the ball down to the one-inch line, only to have time run out before they could get off another play.

"When I say one-inch line, I'm not kidding," said second-year Durant head coach Ashley Kuhn. "It was that close.

"We had several guys just swarm together to make the tackle at the goal line," he said. "It was a team effort."

Durant won the game 25-21, improving to 4-1 overall and holding on to the Jackson Clarion-Ledger's and Mississippi Prep Sports Source's No. 1 rankings in Class 1A.

While the last-second tackle sealed the victory for the Tigers, it was a play by defensive end Travis Johnson just a few minutes before that set up Durant's chance to take the win.

Trailing 21-18 and with Greenville St. Joseph on the Durant 30-yard line, Johnson picked off a pass and returned it 75 yards for the go-ahead touchdown.

"He made an unbelievable play," Kuhn said. "He saw something earlier in the game as to what play they were going to run so he dropped back in coverage and made the interception."

Kuhn said he was encouraging Johnson as he ran the ball down the field.

"I was hoping he was going to score," Kuhn said. "The last four times we had it on offense we put the ball on the ground. I wanted us to go ahead and get the touchdown."

Durant turned the ball over six times during the game, four on fumbles and two on interceptions.

"We just played poorly," Kuhn said "Obviously it is tough to come off an emotional win (28-6 over Region 2-1A foe Coffeeville a week earlier), but we have to learn to respond better."

Next up for the Tigers is a crucial Region 2-1A road contest against a 2-1 McAdams team which just suffered its first loss of the year.

Durant scored a touchdown in each quarter, with the Tigers' first touchdown coming on a 10-yard run by Cortez Frizell. Joffie Hogsett scored on a 1-yard run in the second quarter and a 2-yard run in the third.

Frizell rushed for 240 yards on 31 carries for the Tigers, while Jamaal Hogsett had 10 carries for 36 yards and Joffie Hogsett had 29 yards on six attempts.

Johnson led the defense with a fumble recovery and an interception, while Robert Lowe had 12 tackles and Davin Mitchell added seven.

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