It took a little over one hundred miles to get to Jackson High School for the Tigers’ district semifinal game. It felt like one thousand miles on their return home.

OHS lost to Jackson in overtime with a final score of 41-35 on Friday, Oct. 31. Jackson scored a touchdown in its first possession of overtime, but the Tigers failed to advance further than the 5-yard line.

“We can’t really be…feeling too bad,” head coach Arlee Conners said.  “It feels bad to lose, but [the] guys need to be proud of some of the things they did out here because they did a heck of a job to come back.”

Jackson jumped out to an early lead in the first quarter, which the Tigers matched less than six minutes later with a Marcus Biri (12) touchdown. Jackson scored two more touchdowns in the second quarter.

“We were down 21-7 at half,” quarterback Carvon Robinson (12) said. “We came right down, scored twice, and tied it up.”

If the second quarter was Jackson’s turn to score, then the third quarter was when OHS woke up. Robinson had a rushing and passing touchdown, and defensively the Tigers recovered a fumble on a kickoff return and intercepted a pass with Jackson threatening to score.

“They fought hard,” Conners said. “They were down, and they found a way to dig down deep and get some things done.”

OHS scored at the beginning of the fourth quarter when Robinson completed a long pass to Kobe Allen (11), who scored a touchdown for a total of 48 yards. Jackson scored less than three minutes later to tie the score at 28. Robinson threw a 58-yard pass to Arsante’ Conners (12). Robinson threw another short pass to Conners, who ran it for a touchdown to give the Tigers their first lead of the night.

Jackson tied the score at 35 with less than three minutes in the fourth quarter to send the game into overtime. The Indians scored on their possession but missed the extra point, making the score 41-35. On the Tigers’ possession, Robinson willed the offense to the 5-yard line. On second down and goal with five yards to go, Robinson struggled to handle the snap and fumbled. Jackson recovered, ending the game and the Tigers’ season.

Despite finishing with a record of 5-6, the Tigers came a long way. The team lost its first three games but went 5-2 before losing at Jackson.

“It’s unfortunate, but you know somebody’s gotta win, and somebody’s gotta lose, and unfortunately today was our turn to lose,” Coach Conners concluded.