LONDON — The 1994 North Laurel Jaguars football team was honored during Friday night’s clash between Steven Nelson’s current version of the Jaguars and the Whitley County Colonels.
The ‘94 Jaguars were the first football team to win a district championship, and they were known as the being, “Big, Bold, and Nasty.”
North Laurel’s 2024 version of the “Big, Bold, and Nasty” Jaguars are now 2-0 on the season after surviving a 16-14 battle against Whitley County.
The play of the game came on the defensive side of the ball with under three minutes remaining in regulation.
North Laurel was clinging to a two-point lead with Whitley County driving while facing a fourth and three situation on the Jaguar 45-yard line when John Minor came up with a bruising hit that forced a fumble in the backfield while Ryse Sutton recovered the loose ball securing the win for the his team.
“Super-proud of these guys and the job they did not dropping their heads when things didn’t go our way,” Nelson said. “We had opportunities to go up big and kept shooting ourselves in the foot, but these guys never got down. They came out on defense and battled and stepped up with a huge stop. I’m proud of them and we have to keep improving each week to reach our goal.”
North Laurel got in the scoreboard first as Jude McWhorter’s five-yard touchdown run gave the Jaguars a 7-0 lead early in the first quarter.
Whitley County’s Dee Parker, who rushed for more than 200 yards, scored on a 13-yard run at the 9:31 mark of the second quarter to tie the game at seven apiece.
A 36-yard touchdown pass from Hunter Morgan to McWhorter a minute and a half later allowed North Laurel to take a 13-7 advantage.
The Jaguars’ lead didn’t last long as Parker broke loose for a 50-yard touchdown run that gave his team a 14-13 lead at halftime.
Nelson’s squad reclaimed the lead for good thanks to a 28-yard field goal by Cam Anderson, giving his team a 16-14 lead with 7:55 remaining.
Whitley County drove down the field and looked like it was going to score, but a goal line stand by North Laurel allowed the Jaguars to take over at their own one-yard line with 4:05 left in the game.
