McIntosh County Academy drops heartbreaker against Clinch

Nov. 19—A disastrous opening quarter set an ominous tone for No. 7 McIntosh County Academy in its second-round matchup against No. 6 Clinch County on Friday at The Ship.

The Buccaneers spent most of the second half fighting back the foreboding feeling, but they were ultimately left heartbroken in a 17-16 loss.

Clinch completed a 15-yard touchdown pass to Jeremy Bell with 23 seconds remaining to complete a fourth-quarter comeback that saw the Panthers erase a nine-point deficit in five minutes.

"On the last play, we were in double coverage; you can't pull anymore than you pull over there," said MCA head coach Bradley Warren. "I'm proud of our kids. I'm proud of the effort they put forth. It was a good season."

Clinch got the ball on its own 44-yard line with 5:36 remaining, trailing 16-7 and proceeded to make every play it needed to in the rally.

Facing a 4th-and-4 from the 9-yard line with 3:23 to play and three timeouts remaining, the Panthers decided to kick a field goal to claw back to within six points, and they were able to force the Buccaneers to punt the ball back with just over two minutes on the clock for the game-winning drive.

Bell high-pointed a ball in front of a McIntosh County Academy defensive back, bounced off a tackle, and found pay dirt to send Clinch onto the state quarterfinals for the eighth time in the last 10 years.

The Buccaneers put together the best regular season in the program's history, finishing 9-1 before winning their second playoff game in six years last week.

McIntosh entered the matchup with Clinch looking for a little revenge for a postseason loss at The Ship in 2020, but it couldn't get out of its own way in the first quarter.

The opening kickoff was popped into the air and touched by an MCA player before it had gone 10 yards, giving the ball, and 15 free yards to Clinch to set up shop in opposing territory for its first snaps of the game.

McIntosh County Academy would proceed to be flagged four times for 36 yards as it escorted Clinch down the field and into the end zone for a 7-0 lead just four minute into the contest.

The flags wouldn't stop flying on the Buccaneers' opening drive either — the team being hit with a pair of false starts and a delay of game to add up to seven flags for 51 yards over the first two possessions.

Even outside of the penalties, MCA failed to generate much traction, missing on a wide open deep ball over the middle, dropping an interception, and getting outgained 83-6 over the first quarter of play.

"We didn't well in the first half," Warren said. "They got after us pretty good, and we weren't ready mentally."

LaDerrious West came over with an interception on the first play of the second quarter, and McIntosh blocked a 37-yard field goal attempt as time expired in the half to keep the deficit at 7-0, but the team was in desperate need of a spark.

McIntosh County Academy would get that spark from its standout JaReese Campbell.

After being forced to punt on their first drive of the third quarter, the Buccaneers had gained just 34 yards of offense when Campbell snatched a bobbled swing pass to the sidelines out of the air for an interception and raced 52 yards for a touchdown. Campbell returned to the end zone on the ensuing two-point conversion, and MCA was suddenly up 8-7.

Now with a little life, McIntosh forced a quick Clinch three-and-out to get the ball right back, setting the stage for West to rip off a 38-yard score two plays into the fourth quarter.

Following another two-point conversion by Campbell, all the momentum was on the Buccaneers' side, and after second straight three-and-out by the Panthers, MCA had an opportunity to ice the game.

But Clinch forced McIntosh to punt the ball back with just over five-and-a-half minutes remaining, and it was just enough for the Panthers to pull off the comeback.

"We came back out in the second half and played a good half of football," Warren said.

"We got the scores; we couldn't get that last first down for whatever reason, and then we punted and had them deep. They just kept making plays.

"We had heat on them, had pressure on them, and they just made plays. Hat's off to them. I hate that anybody had to lose this game."