As the offensive line clears a path, Wendell Pritchett (10) hands off to Dray Young early in the junior Warriors 14-12 victory over Marked Tree last Thursday night at Lepanto. (Tribune photo/Dan Brawner)

With the remnants of hurricane Gustav laying a nearly game-long mist on all the surroundings, Marked Tree visited EPC to renew their rivalry in junior high football last Thursday night. In the end, the junior Warriors turned out to be not-so-good hosts as Trent Barnes recovered a junior Indian fumble on his own 16 with less than a minute left to preserve a 14-12 come-from-behind EPC victory.

Unlike last year's season opener between the two teams which was a sloppily played affair on a pristine night, this year's contest was nearly error free in soggy conditions. The two teams recorded only six penalties and two fumbles on the opening-season night.

"It was a huge win for us," said EPC coach Brian Weathers. "It was a win that's been a long time coming for a lot of these guys. They worked their tails off getting ready for the game and they deserved it. I just couldn't be prouder of them."

Austin Price (15) and Dylan Mason (65) of EPC try to get the angle on junior Indian Darius Ivy (24) as he turns the corner on the way to Marked Tree's first TD. (Tribune photo/Dan Brawner)

"I was proud of our effort." said Marked Tree coach Matt Wright. "It came down to who had the ball last. We had it, but just let up."

The Indians opened the game receiving the ball at the Marked Tree 15 and three plays later had a first down at the 28. From there, two plays netted only two yards. But on third and eight from the Indian 30, Darius Ivy found a seam down the left sideline and, after breaking a couple of tackles went 70 yards for the opening score.

The two point conversion attempt failed, but Marked Tree had drawn first blood with a 6-0 lead at 5:03 of the first period.

EPC looked as if they were going to respond immediately as they took the ensuing kickoff and returned it to their own 45. They drove to the Indians' 37, but stalled there, turning the ball back to the Warriors on downs.

Marked Tree took over there and ran two plays before the quarter ended.

As the second quarter opened, and following a second penalty, the Indians Thadius Moore struck for nine yards to bring up third and five at their own 42.

Even there was no lighting in the skies, lighting struck on the field again, when Moore took the ball on the next play and proceeded to weave his way the entire distance, 58 yards, to increase Marked Tree's lead to 12-0 with 6:55 left in the half.

The Warrior were finally able to get uncorked after taking the ball at their 33 when they ate up 5:00 of the second period on a nine-play, 67 yard drive to close the score to 12-6. Dray Young, who ran for the majority of the yards on the drive and on the night for EPC bulled his way in from seven yards out for the score, then plunged in for the two-point conversion, upping the score to 12-8.

With 1:58 left in the half, the Indians set out again on a quest for points, but after working their way to the 50 where they had a first and 10 with just seconds left, they put the ball on the ground and EPC recovered.

With one play left, the Warriors half-ending "Hail Mary" pass from the Indians' 45 fell incomplete.

The opening drive of the second half turned out to be the game winner for EPC. Taking only seven plays for the score, they drove from their 42 Young scoring once again with just 4:00 gone in the period. The conversion was unsuccessful, but the Warriors had a 14-12 lead which would stand.

There were some tense moments in the remainder of the game, however, as The Indians were far from dead.

With a quarter and one-half still remaining, Marked Tree, starting at their 26, the Indians set out on an unusual (for junior high) 12 minute, 17-play drive to the Warrior 10 yard line. Disaster struck at this point, however. First, Marked Tree was assessed with two procedure penalties, giving them a first and goal at the 20 yard line.

Then on the next play Barnes made his recovery, effectively ending the game even though EPC had time to run four more plays before the bells sounded.

Carrying the bulk of the load for their respective teams, Young finished with 131 yards on 20 carries and two TDs, while Moore had 17 carries for 119 yards and a touchdown and threw one pass for 18 yards.

"We were pretty evenly matched," added Weathers. "We got down 12-0 to a very good team and managed to come back. Both teams drove the ball well and played defenses which bent, but didn't break."

"One thing we're battling right now is learning how to win." continued Wright. "We haven't had much success at that the last two years. We've just got to learn how to win and take advantage of those opportunities. Before it's all said and done, I think we'll be a pretty good little football team."

Also, for EPC, Wendell Pritchett was 2 for 3 on the ground and 1 of 2 in the air for 25 yards. A.J. Turner had an eight yard run while Shelton Leija finished with four yards on three carries.

For Marked Tree, Ivy gained 79 yards on two carries and 43 yards on two receptions while Bryant Anderson had 11 yards on four rushing attempts and quarterback Jagger McCrary was 1 for 1 passing for 18 yards.

"I want to highlight Jagger McCrary." Wright concluded. "He's about 5-5, 120 pounds soaking wet, but he played his heart out. If the rest of our kids can play that well, and for the most part they did, I think we're going to be ok.

"But, one thing I want to say, I've heard a lot of people talking about how close we came to winning, but we're not playing for moral victories. I don't care what people say, that game wasn't good for moral. We're going to take that disappointment and build on it for next week, though."

"Anytime you have EPC and Marked Tree playing at any level you'll get the best effort out of everyone," said Weathers in conclusion. "Both teams ate up the clock and under the conditions we ran the ball well. Young had an outstanding game and the line did real well as well. Now we're going to work hard for the game this week."

Both EPC and Marked Tree play at 7 p.m. tomorrow (Thursday), the Warriors at Augusta and the Indians hosting Cedar Ridge.