TALE OF TWO HALVES; Owls falter as game split over two days, second half surge powers Wildcats

By Terry Collins Courier Sports

CARTHAGE — For the first time possibly in school history, the Smith County High School football team played a game on two different days. 

The Owls faced Livingston in Carthage last Friday night in a game that was moved up an hour because of pending inclement weather.

Smith Co. built a 17-6 halftime lead and had the momentum squarely on their shoulders before lightning entered the area and caused a weather delay. 

The Wildcats came back 24 hours later and took advantage of three Owls’ turnovers in the second half to post a 20-17 victory on Saturday night.

“We battled against a really good Livingston team,” said Smith County head coach Matt Dyer. “Our game got postponed and we lost our momentum. We can’t let outside factors effect us like that. We have to worry about what we can control and not what we can’t control.”

Dyer continued, “We had a hard time containing their run game in the second half and gave up too many big plays on the ground. We didn’t make plays when we needed to and Livingston did. Our guys played hard. We’ll learn a lot from this loss, but it will not define who we are or determine the course of our season.”

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