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By Carey Reeder | Managing Editor

Two weeks ago, Jemison High School sat winless in 2024. Now, they will go into the offseason winners of their final two games of the 2024 season following a 35-22 win over Hale County High School. The Panthers were able to pull off the upset over the playoff team and send the seniors out of the highest of notes.

“I’m glad the seniors were able to go out with a win … They were able to go out with two victories, and I am just happy for them because they fought all season,” Jemison head coach Rishard Davis said. “The guys that decided to stay out there with us continued to fight and game plan every week. We were still trying to win games, and I am happy for them.”

Davis added that his players just put their heads down the last two weeks of the season and worked. They stopped worrying about things too far ahead and were just in the moment. The game was not about stats or when each team scored, but about a galvanizing win that could boost a program well into the future. Jemison took an early 7-0 lead over Hale County and never relinquished it throughout the game.

“We took it one day at a time,” Davis said. “It may not have gone as we planned this year, but the boys that stayed out there did not want it to be over. We just wanted to go out the rest of the season and play as hard as we could. I told the guys, ‘I will be satisfied with whatever result if I know everybody was giving their all.’ That was the goal and not worry about the scoreboard or record, just continue to fight and get better.”

Graden Mims pulled in a touchdown catch from Luke Gann as the only score for Jemison not coming on the ground. Gann was 6-for-8 passing for 89 yards and a touchdown, and Mims caught a team high three balls for 46 yards and the score.

In their effective rushing attack, the Panthers ran for 195 yards as a team with four different running backs carrying the ball at least seven times. Three of those running backs — AJ Ford, Adrian Davis and Gann, each took in a rushing touchdown. Chaz Melton was the leading rusher with 55 yards on 12 carries.

On defense, Damian Stafford led the team with seven tackles, followed by Houston Harris and Melton with five tackles each. The Panthers’ defense forced four fumbles in the game, two by Blake Calloway and one by Harris and Stafford. Holden Arnold recovered one of the four Hale County fumbles and returned it for a touchdown, and Davion Slaughter recovered a fumble as well.

Jemison finishes the 2024 season at 2-8.