Just bear-ly: MA holds off Plainview

Teammates celebrate with Kam Jackson following his touchdown reception off of a tipped pass Sept. 24 in a 17-7 win at Plainview.

Madison Academy wide receiver Kam Jackson caught a tipped pass in the back of the end zone with just over 5 minutes remaining in the game Sept. 24 to clinch the Mustang Class 3A, Region 7 victory at Plainview, 17-7.

“You’re going to have to get a little lucky every now and then, but I wouldn’t say it was all luck as Kam did a great job of getting in position and keeping his eye on the ball,” said Madison Academy head coach Eric Cohu. “That was unbelievable.”

The Mustangs put themselves in position for a victory by opening up a 10-0 halftime lead, but the Bears came storming back in the second half.

In the opening quarter, the Mustangs went for it on a fourth down on the opening possession, but Joe Dobson’s pass failed to convert and Plainview took over.

The Bears marched right down the field on the ensuing possession, but Hunter Olive intercepted a pass at the goal line to end the Plainview scoring threat.

The Plainview defense held strong again on the Mustangs’ next possession, but this time Dobson used his legs instead of his arm as he scrambled 60 yards on a 3rd-and-15 play for the score.

After forcing Plainview to punt, the Mustangs tacked on three more points when Bennett Smith nailed a 35-yard field goal, and neither team scored again before the half.

In the third quarter, the Bears got their running game going when Tyler Dickerson scampered in from 10 yards out to close the score 10-7.

The Bears defense gave its offense a chance to tie the game by stopping Dobson on a fourth-down run, but the Bears’ field goal was blocked on the next possession.

“We’ve had two good weeks on special teams since those first two bad weeks,” Cohu said. “Tonight was huge.”

The Mustangs padded the lead after Marcus Sease ran 58 yards to set up the tipped touchdown pass to Jackson.

The Bears threatened to score twice more after Jackson increased the lead to 17-7, but Olive intercepted his second pass of the game on the ensuing possession, and then the Mustang defense held strong on a fourth-and-goal as Sease sacked the Plainview quarterback for the seal the victory.

“Hunter has been great for us,” Cohu said. “I feel like we’re not getting the respect we deserve defensively.”