Carter McCown + Jacksonville Beat Nacogdoches 85-79 in Five-Overtime Thriller

[By Larry Krantz, Special to ETSN.fm]

JACKSONVILLE -- Carter McCown threw three touchdowns and ran for 168 yards and another two as the Jacksonville Indians outlasted the Nacogdoches Dragons 85-79 in five overtimes Friday at the Tomato Bowl.

The win snapped a three-game losing streak for Jacksonville and gave the Indians their first district win since the 2012 season.

The Indians and Dragons played a 12-overtime game in 2010 at Nacogdoches, which Jacksonville won 84-81. That game set the current record for the longest high school game in history. Friday night's game finished just a point short of the 165 the two scored four years ago.

McCown threw all three of his touchdowns to Jeremy McAnally, who finished with five catches for 47 yards.

Running back Wooda Johnson added 139 yards and two touchdowns for Jacksonville.

Dragons quarterback Hunter McClellan completed 20 of 38 passes for 381 yards and three touchdowns, and ran for another 88 yards and five touchdowns.

Running back Coronado Tolbert added 140 yards and two touchdowns on 26 carries.

Receiver Bryce Matthews caught a game-high six passes for 116 yards.

Tae Thomas, Ken Rogers and Alex Gregory each caught touchdowns for Nacogdoches.

Jacksonville (4-3 overall, 1-3 in district) took its first lead of the game, 42-35 on McAnally's first touchdown catch with 8:55 remaining in regulation.

The Indians expanded the lead to 14 points with 2:12 remaining on a McCown touchdown run, but the Dragons scored on a 57-yard touchdown pass to Gregory to cut the deficit, then recovered the ensuing onside kick with 1:37 remaining.

Nacogdoches drove 67 yards in nine plays, capped by a 7-yard touchdown run by McClellan with :31 remaining to tie the game.

The teams traded touchdowns through the first four overtimes, and Jacksonville's Datavion Thacker gave the Indians the lead for good on a 13-yard run.

But the 2-point conversion pass failed, holding the door open for a Dragons comeback.

But Nacogdoches (5-2, 2-2) was out of gas.

The first play from scrimmage was a pass into the end zone to Gregory who caught the ball, but was ruled out of bounds. Gregory was flagged for protesting the call, pushing Nacogdoches back to the Jacksonville 40.