Yazoo City could not hold on to a big first quarter lead in their 36-35 Homecoming loss to Raymond High School.
The loss dropped the Indians’ record to 0-9 with one more chance to get in the win column.
According to Yazoo City High head football coach Lynn Lang, a series of fumbles ended promising drives and consistently put the Indians in tough situations.
“If it wasn’t for the fumbles, I don’t think they could have stopped our offense,” Lang said. “It seemed like every time we would get a good drive going we would put the ball on the ground. You can’t do that. It’s basic, fundamental football. You cannot put the ball on the ground.”
Early on in the contest, it seemed as if the Indians would run away with the game. They led 21-7 after the first quarter.
Unfortunately for the Indians, a slump in the middle quarters came back to haunt them.
Raymond outscore the Indians 16-0 in the second quarter and 7-0 in the third to take a 30-21 lead heading into the fourth.
The two soon traded a pair of scores to make it 36-27.
Down 36-27 with very little time remaining, the Indians began driving again to try and somehow come back to tie things up.
The drive ended with a Roncedrick Weekly touchdown pass to Rorecoss Willis, and after a 2-point conversion run by Weekly, the score was 36-35.
Yazoo City would have one final opportunity to get the ball back with an onside kick attempt with 30 seconds remaining in the game, but the Indians were not able to get the right bounce.
The game ended with Raymond on top 36-35.
Lang believes his team could have generated enough offense to score had they gotten a lucky bounce on the onside kick attempt.
“If we had gotten that onside kick, we would have had about 30 seconds left,” Lang said. “We needed about one more bounce. I think we would have scored if we had gotten the ball. They couldn’t stop our offense.”
One of the biggest issues that plagued Yazoo City in the loss was Raymond quarterback Derrick Turner, who rushed 39 times for 321 yards and four touchdowns.
The Indians needed a linebacker to step up and make stops, which is why Lang believes they still miss senior Sam Barton tremendously.
“I still think the loss of Sam Barton is really hurting our linebacking corp,” Lang said. “We have to have someone step up and make a play. That’s killing us right now. We are waiting on someone to step up and make a play.”
Yazoo City High School will try to end their season on a good note on Friday night when they face off with the winless Gentry High School.
Gentry is 0-8 on the season after enjoying a bye week this past Friday.
Lang believes his squad has a chance to earn that elusive win if they can play a good, clean game.
“We have the same record that they do,” Lang said. “We have to go out and execute. We have to take care of the ball, and if we do that, we shouldn’t have anything to worry about.”
Kickoff at Gentry is set for 7 p.m.
Yazoo City High’s football stats were unavailable by press time.
