STEVENSON, Ala. -- Fayette County wanted a big win on the road. The Tigers had a four-hour bus ride to think about it and took slightly more than two hours to make it happen.
The Tigers scrambled off the bus and proceeded to put together a masterful upset Friday, beating host North Jackson 40-32 in the Alabama Class 4A playoffs.
The outcome propels Fayette County (9-3) into the quarterfinals and avenges a 2010 loss to the Chiefs, who suffered their first loss of the year and finished 11-1.
"Our kids have come through some wars and they've taken some tough ones on the chin the last few years," said first-year Tigers coach Lance Tucker. "They talked about it on the bus all the way up here."
It was an early lead and big plays that did in the Chiefs, who had beat Fayette County in the second round a year ago.
Fayette jumped to a 14-0 advantage before North Jackson's offense got on the field. Taking advantage of two onside/squib kicks they recovered, the Tigers went up two touchdowns just four minutes in, driving 32 and 43 yards. Kyle Nalls scored the first on a 23-yard run and Tevin Madison pulled in an 8-yard pass from Marcellus Redmonnd.
It was typical of the uphill battle North Jackson fought all night. The Chiefs rallied to tie the score on touchdown passes from Kitt Grider to Dylan Stewart and Daqwan Lowrance, but the Tigers pulled back ahead almost immediately on a 1-yard plunge by Nalls.
The Chiefs knotted the score once more on Nicholas Pope's 1-yard run but the deadlock lasted just 16 seconds, the time it took for Cameron Poe-mitchell to return the ensuing kickoff 95 yards. The Tigers then pushed the lead to 12 when William Redmond picked off Grider and returned the pass 25 yards. Anxious to cut the lead, North Jackson was forced to settle for a 50-yard field goal by Cesar Diaz as time expired in the first half.
Adjustments were the key in the second half and the Chiefs actually held the Fayette offense scoreless in the second half while getting a TD on a 2-yard run by Pope. Unfortunately for the Chiefs, though, Poe-mitchell picked off another Grider pass and returned it 79 yards, leading to the eventual 40-32 final.
"It was big plays early and then the kids capitalizing on their opportunities," said Tucker, the former Alabama quarterback. "Oh yeah, this is undoubtedly the biggest win in my career."
Excluding the two muffed kickoffs, North Jackson had three fumbles, losing two, and was intercepted four times.