FAYETTE — If it had not been for the exploits of Morton High School’s junior do-it-all athlete D.D. Bowie, Jefferson County High School probably would come away with a big victory.

Bowie scored three touchdowns — two receiving and one on special teams — to help get Morton out of an early 14-6 deficit as the Panthers went on to defeat the Jefferson County Tigers 26-20 Friday night.

“Every time he had an opportunity to make a play, he did,” Jefferson County head coach James Herrington said. “They came back. Bowie returned a kickoff for a touchdown. He had an outstanding game. He had three of their four touchdowns.”

And if trying to slow down Bowie wasn’t enough, the Tigers also could not overcome their own mental mistakes after playing a good first quarter. Two of their drives in that quarter resulted in long touchdown pass from James Claiborne to Dykerias Ford.

“Bottom line, when you don’t make mental mistakes, you win the close games,” Herrington said. “Penalties and mental mistakes were the difference. We did a good job not turning the ball over. In key situations, we had mental breakdowns.”

Even though Herrington felt like penalties was the one of the keys to his team’s loss, Jefferson County was only penalized seven times for 35 yards.

But something else could be contributed to their setback – the lack of a running game. The Tigers had just 85 yards on the ground with Ford being held to 24 yards on 11 carries.

That and the inability to stop the big play. All four of Morton’s touchdowns were at least 67 yards long with all three of Bowie’s scores – two touchdown pass from Lane Bailey and a kickoff return to start the third quarter – going for 75 yards.

Claiborne had a good game throwing the ball. He completed 10 of 22 passes for 211 yards and three touchdowns. Ford had all three touchdowns and finished with 130 yards on those three receptions.

Kenrica Ross led the Tigers’ defense with five sacks and Braylon McDonald had one interception.

“Long season left. There’s things to learn from a loss like this,” Herrington said.

Jefferson County (1-2) plays host to South Delta next Friday at 7 p.m.