WEST POINT — The Immanuel Christian football team walked onto Raider Field with the thunder and sparkle of fireworks.
It seemed the celebration of an Oak Hill Academy win for Senior Night had already begun.
Senior running back Michael Tate spoiled the party with a 97-yard kickoff return for the go-ahead score in the fourth quarter to lead Immanuel Christian to a 14-12 win Friday night.
Tate’s darting return through the heart of the coverage team came after Oak Hill Academy went ahead 12-8 after Drake Riley reeled off a 45-yard run and a 3-yard score.
Immanuel Christian (2-8, 1-4 Mississippi Association of Independent Schools Class AA, District 2) closed the game by forcing a pair of three-and-outs en route to its first district win of the season.
“When it rolled by me, I thought it was gonna go to the end zone,” said Tate, who had to backtrack to field the ball. “But I picked it up and blockers were doing their job in front of me and blocking good. I’m just glad they blocked for me. If you don’t block, you aren’t gonna have space.”
The Raiders (0-10, 0-5) played its closest game of the year and had one of their best individual offensive performances from running back Riley, who had 111 yards on 14 carries, including the go-ahead run in the fourth quarter.
But miscues like a blocked field goal, missed tackles, bad snaps, and one overthrown ball from Riley Pierce that could have iced the game doomed the Raiders.
“Enthusiasm was there,” Oak Hill Academy coach Benjie Merchant said. “The same thing that’s hampered us all year: missed tackled and special teams. And then, one big play. As far as our seniors this year, I hate it for them. Not winning a game is terrible, but we’ve got to build it one block at a time. I knew coming in in June this would be a tough go at it.”
Rams running back/receiver Jason Davis had 12 carries for 68 yards. Davis filled in for Darius Jones at quarterback after the sophomore took a shot to the head in the fourth quarter. Davis picked up a pair of first downs to help run out the clock.
Jones was 5 of 11 for 125 yards and a score. Jones opened the scoring when he found Davis, who leaped over a defender in the flats, turned up field and left the Raiders for a 65-yard scored just three minutes before the half.
“We knew going in we had them with the speed,” Immanuel Christian coach Greg Watkins said. “When you have speed like that, all you need is one or two breaks and these guys are gone.”
Oak Hill Academy responded with an eight-play drive, capped by Pierce hitting Bradley Allen for a 9-yard touchdown that made it 8-6 at halftime.
Pierce was 3 of 8 for 34 yards and a touchdown.
Immanuel Christian overcame two lost fumbles, including one on a muffed punt by Davis that set up Oak Hill Academy’s go-ahead score. Jones and Tate each dropped interceptions with clear paths to the end zone.
The Rams added three sacks and more than 10 tackles for a loss.
“Our defense probably played one of its better games,” Watkins said. “Up to that point, we hadn’t done a very good job of tackling. We’d done a good job of meeting people in the backfield but not wrapping up. We went over a bunch of game film, just showing them how to correct it. That was the difference.”
The Dispatch Editorial Board is made up of publisher Peter Imes, columnist Slim Smith, managing editor Zack Plair and senior newsroom staff.
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