Tiger Pride! It is more than just a saying or creed. For the Jonesboro-Hodge High School football team, it describes what drives them when the going gets tough. The Tiger players provided a perfect example of what the two words mean to them in their 14-8 season-opening victory over a surprisingly solid Lakeside team at Caldwell-Peacock Stadium.

The victory gave JHHS its first season-opener win in three years, but it wasn’t easy. Far from it. The difference was the tremendous resiliency and perfect execution by both offense and defense in critical moments late in the contest, after the two teams went into the half with JHHS leading by what turned out to be the final margin.

“I thought that we played with a great amount of maturity tonight. Give Lakeside credit, they gave us a serious gut check,” said JHHS head coach Terrance Blankenship. “We don’t have a lot of upperclassmen, but we have a lot of guys who got a lot of game experience last year as underclassmen and are mature football-wise beyond their years.”

Slow Start! The game began with Lakeside taking the opening kickoff 65 yards in 11 plays, ending with a three-yard plunge for the score, taking 6:47 off the clock. The two-point conversion attempt was good as well, giving Lakeside a quick 8-0. Two plays later, Lakeside had the ball again, this time at the JH 23-yard line following a fumble. With the help of four Warrior penalties, JHHS forced a Lakeside punt from midfield that gave the Tigers the ball at their own 15-yard line, setting up the first of two long second-quarter scores

Taking Control! On their second possession, JHHS marched 85 yards in 10 plays, with quarterback King Campbell scoring the first touchdown of the year on a three-yard run. The two-point pass attempt fell incomplete, leaving the Tigers narrowly behind at 8-6. The JHHS defense then forced a three-and-out, leading to JHHS taking control with an 18-yard scamper by new tailback Lon’trevious “Tre” Burns to cap off another impressive long drive, this one from 80 yards away that took 10 plays. On the two-point conversion attempt, Campbell hit Tyson Burks to put JHHS up 14-8 at the half.

Defense stands tall! JHHS got the ball first in the second half but had to punt, giving Lakeside the ball at their own 27-yard line and, like at the game’s beginning, embarked on another good drive to move all the way to the JHHS 23-yard line, but this time the Tiger defense stiffened to put an end to the scare. The Tigers then moved into Lakeside territory on the strength of a beautiful 32-yard catch-and-run by Jaquan Qualls before turning it over on downs. Again, Lakeside used the Veer offense to their advantage, taking several misdirection runs deep into Tiger territory, but again JH held firm, this time ending the drive with a Tyson Burks interception in the end zone on a halfback pass.

Closing in Style! With 8:10 left in the game, the Tiger offense ran 16 plays to put the game on ice. Twice, the Tigers made critical third-and-long conversions and a clutch 21-yard 4th-down pass from Campbell to Qualls that put the ball at the Lakeside 3-yard line with just 40 seconds to go. From there, JHHS simply ran the clock out to preserve the victory.

“I thought our quarterback made several great decisions when it really mattered,” said Blankenship. “He is only a sophomore but played like a seasoned veteran tonight, with his clutch passing and running at the end.”

Next Week! Jonesboro-Hodge will look to start 2-0 on the season for the first time since 2020 when they travel to Delhi Charter, who lost to Cedar Creek 55-14, for a Friday, September 13th contest. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:00 pm.

Team	1	2	3	4	Final
JHHS (1-0)	0	14	0	0	14
Lakeside (0-1)	8	0	0	0	8

JHHS Individual Stats:
Passing: Campbell (8-16-118 – 1 TD, 1 2pt conversion)
Rushing: Burns (22-93, 1 TD), Campbell (5-14, 1 TD), Jackson (1-5)
Receiving: Qualls (3-60), Burns (3-42, 1 2-pt conversion), Johnson (1-11), Jones (1-5)

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