Jr. High Tigers split with Charleston

By Myra Bean

It came down  to a last minute try for a touchdown, but the Batesville Jr. High eighth grade (2-1) fell to Charleston 22-18.

Charleston was at fourth down with 1:11 to go in the game. Isaac Gross tackled the Charleston quarterback for a loss to the Charleston six yard line to force a turnover on downs.

Temario Strong, nephew of former Ole Miss linebacker Eddie Strong, took the ball to the one yard line on first down.

Gross, who also played on offense, was tackled for a loss to the three on second down with 33 seconds to go. Devonte Turner gave it a go on third down, but was tackled on the four yard line. With 22 seconds left, Batesville took a time out.

On fourth and goal from the four, Strong pushed forward but only got to the one yard line and Charleston took a knee and the win with 14 seconds to go in the game for the win.

Charleston scored first after picking up a fumble and running 83 yards for the touchdown with 51 seconds left in the first quarter, but missed the two-point conversion.

Strong, also cousin to current Rebel linebacker Chris Strong, tied the score as just 15 seconds ticked off the clock. He took the handoff, broke to his left and raced 70 yards for the score. Batesville also missed the two-point conversion and the score was tied at six going into the second quarter.

At the 6:19 mark, Turner’s 38-yard run gave the Tigers a 12-6 lead. Again, the two-point conversion failed.

With 6:08 left in the first half, Bobby  Epps recovered a Charleston fumble on the 49 yard line, but the Tigers could not convert.

With 11 seconds left in the half, Charleston tied the score at 12 on a 70 yard touchdown pass. Charleston’s two-point conversion failed, but Batesville was flagged giving them another try with half the distance to the goal. On the second try, Charleston was successful and took a 14-12 lead into halftime.

At the beginning of the third quarter, Gross recovered a fumble on the Charleston 26 yard line.  A couple of plays later, Gross capitalized on the fumble with a nine-yard touchdown run with 5:57 left in the quarter. Turner’s two-point conversion was no good, but Batesville enjoyed an 18-14 lead.

The failed two-point conversions,  which represented six possible points, came back to haunt the Jr. High Tigers as Charleston converted a fourth and goal and turned it into an eight-yard touchdown run with 25 seconds left in the third quarter. Charleston made the two-point conversion for the 22-18 lead and eventual win.

7th  Grade

The seventh grade Batesville Jr. High Tigers (2-0)  came out with a 32-14 win over Charleston thanks in part to three touchdown runs by Antonio Conner.

Conner is the younger brother of Tiger linebacker David Conner. Antonio though has about six inches of height over 5’9” brother David.

Batesville had a 24-0 lead at halftime.

Charleston scored its first touchdown  in the second half with 14:07 on the clock and scored the two-point conversion to cut the lead 24-8. With 5:25 left in the game, Charleston scored again on an 18-yard pass to cut the lead 24-14. The two-point conversion failed.

Conner scored his final touchdown and two-point conversion with 2:20 left in the game. He scored on a 70-yard run for the 32-14 win.

Batesville Jr. High will be back in action next Monday in Grenada for a rain postponed game.