JAY, Fla. — Ahead by three points, Escambia Academy forced a critical fumble and scored late to beat Jay 30-20 in a tight battle tonight.

Leading 23-20 with 2:23 left in the game, the fifth-ranked Cougars needed a stop on a third-and-seven play. Jay running back James Eddings, the Royals’ go-to guy on offense who played a stellar game, lost the ball and Daughtry McGhee picked up the fumble to turn the tide in the Cougars’ favor.

After a facemask call in EA’s favor, Pat McGhee took the ball 56 yards to Canoe with 56.8 seconds left to put the game out of reach. McGhee finished with 256 yards on 17 carries and three touchdowns, all in the second half.

McGhee faced some early adversity after losing a fumble in the first half, from which the Royals scored and led 8-0 at the break.

“We kept telling Pat at halftime, ‘don’t worry about one fumble,’” EA head football coach Hugh Fountain said.

Trailing 8-0 in the third quarter, EA’s Jabe Dawe completed a 73-yard pass to Chase Bell 11:06 on the clock. McGhee ticked in the 2-point conversion to tie the game.

A big part of the game, which was a close contest throughout, were penalties.

EA and Jay didn’t help each other out on ensuing possessions.

Jay went up 14-8 after a long drive that was eclipsed by a Judd Smith 1-yard touchdown rush with 6:02 left in the third.

McGhee then recorded his first touchdown of the night from 81 yards, and with the PAT by Sam Martin, the Cougars led 15-14.

The Royals, who were led by Eddings (34 carries for 122 yards ) then put together a flea flicker from the running back to Austin Ashworth to give Jay a five-point advantage without the 2-point conversion.

The Cougars, eyeing a score to get ahead late, drove the ball and capped a good drive with McGhee’s second touchdown, from 2 yards out.

After the touchdown, EA was called for an unsportsmanlike penalty, and the 2-point try was from the 20.

Dawe found McGhee around the right end on a pass to complete the try and a 23-20 advantage.

“It was a great win for us to gut that out,” Fountain said. “Give them (Jay) credit, they played well and hard. We just got to where we played hard as well.”

Fountain said the boys made critical plays at critical moments, namely the 2-point conversion and the third-down fumble.

“The fumble at the end helped us an awful lot,” he said. “It was down to a clutch play.”
Dawe went 7-of-7 for 148 yards, one touchdown and an interception.

Next week, the Cougars host Bessemer Academy.