The chances were there.
New Hope High School football coach Kris Pickle didn’t have any problem listing them Friday night following his team’s 49-34 loss to Lake Cormorant.
The problem was Pickle had far too many — a fumble on a punt in the fourth quarter, ill-timed penalties, a fumble that wiped out a promising drive, and miscommunication on several pass plays — to turn the tide for his squad in an important game in the Mississippi High School Activities Association Class 5A, Region 1 race.
“You fumble the punt, we throw an interception on a ball I didn’t think we competed for and we should have competed for, we had them tackled back here a couple of times and we let them go,” Pickle said. “I look at four or five plays in that game that could have determined the outcome of the game. It could have changed the outcome of the game.”
Two missed extra points added to the Trojans’ woes on a night the Gators piled up 321 yards rushing. Brian Jackson led the way with 19 carries for 207 yards.
Lake Cormorant (5-3, 3-0 region) solidified itself as one of the upper-echelon teams in Region 1 thanks to a strong night by quarterback Ben Rohrbacher and wide receiver Brandon Smith, an Iowa commitment. Seven of Rohrbacher’s 10 completions went to Smith, who turned them into 155 yards and two touchdowns.
In all, Lake Cormorant, which was coming off a 55-6 victory against Center Hill, had 482 yards of offense.
Pickle said he didn’t know if a lack of concentration was to blame for the Trojans’ mistakes. He attributed some of it to players trying to do too much when attempting to make a play. He said players’ inexperience at their positions, the understanding of what it takes to win a game and to finish a game also have contributed to New Hope’s play in a 4-3 start to the season.
At 1-2 in the region, New Hope has region games remaining at reigning region champion Oxford next week and against West Point, which is 3-0 in the region and is the favorite to win the region title thanks to a victory against Oxford earlier this season.
Pickle said he will lean on his seniors to help younger players mature and learn how hard they have to play and what they have to do to execute at the highest possible level. He reiterated the Trojans have to find a way not to battle themselves as much as they have through seven games.
Against the Gators, the Trojans appeared to find a remedy for that in spurts, as the defense improved its tackling and limited the Gators’ effectiveness on the ground in the second half. Unfortunately, the mistakes — whether it was an unsportsmanlike penalty after a touchdown that gave Lake Cormorant a short field, which it capitalized on to score on the ensuing possession, or the muffed punt when New Hope trailed 35-27 — wound up being too much to overcome.
“We just arm-tackled throughout the first half,” Pickle said. “When you play defense, you have to play defense with an edge and a little bit of aggression. You have to be able to tackle people and put your facemask on some folks. I don’t think there was any kind of change we made (from the first half). I think in the second half we played a little more physical and were able to get some stops.”
Still, a 65-yard touchdown pass from Thomas Stevens to Andre Erby with 5 minutes, 25 seconds remaining moved New Hope within one score, 42-34. Unfortunately, the Gators were able to get two first downs before they had to punt the ball back to the Trojans with 2:14 to go. The Trojans managed one first down before Stevens was hit and lost the ball. Lake Cormorant’s Robert Dow recovered the fumble and scored to put the game away.
Pickle felt New Hope had enough time and opted not to call an onside kick after his team cut the deficit to eight points. He felt his defense played well enough in the second half to rely on it, but he acknowledged the offense was in a difficult spot having to go 96 yards in a little more than two minutes to give the team a chance to tie the game.
Pickle said the coaches will go back to work this weekend to evaluate ways they can correct the mistakes. He also encouraged the players to reflect and to ask themselves if they doing everything they can to help the team have as much success as possible.
“How bad do you really want it?” Pickle said. “Does it mean enough to you to sacrifice yourself for whatever it may be for the team? It may be taking on a block and not making the tackle to free somebody else up to make the tackle, or running a route to get somebody else open to be able to make a touchdown or a big play.
“How bad do we want it? How bad do we want to be great? How bad do we want to be successful? Are we after the stats or are we after what is best for New Hope. I think that is the thing every team and every coach looks for. Hopefully, we will get that figured out and start playing for each other a little bit more.”
Follow Dispatch sports editor Adam Minichino on Twitter @ctsportseditor
Adam Minichino is the former Sports Editor for The Commercial Dispatch.
You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 32 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.