The Bulldogs led the visiting Chargers, 19-7, in the first game of district play. Two more quarters like the first two would put the Bulldogs on the inside track to a second consecutive playoff appearance.

But JCN rallied with a touchdown in the third quarter and another in the fourth for a 21-19 squeaker. It was McLouth’s third straight loss, but this one hurts more than the previous two.

McLouth dropped to 3-4 on the season, but more importantly fell to 0-1 in district play with two more games to play. The Bulldogs likely will need to win their next two games to qualify for playoffs.

Next up for McLouth is Silver Lake, last year’s state runner-up in Class 3A. The Eagles, ranked No. 2 in 3A, have given up only 13 points in the last five games. Three of those games have been shutouts.

The game also will serve as a rematch for last year’s second-round playoff game, which the Eagles won, 21-8 in Silver Lake.

On Friday, Skyler Terry put the Bulldogs on the board first with a 30-yard run. Trevor Keling scored McLouth’s remaining two touchdowns on runs of four and seven yards. Keling finished the game with 115 yards, his fifth game of in which he’s rushed for at least 100 yards. He has 965 rushing yards on the season heading into the final two regular-season games.

For McLouth, it was its special teams that made the difference in the game. MHS had has many touchdowns (3) as JCN, but the Bulldogs missed two extra points, the margin of victory for the Chargers.

In addition, Jeff County North scored on a special teams play. Leading 7-0, McLouth kicked off to JCN and the Chargers’ Drew Kraxner tied the game with an 83-yard kickoff return.

JCN 21, McLouth 19

Score by quarters
JCN 7 0 7 7 — 21
McLouth 13 6 0 0 — 19

How they scored
M — Terry 30 run (Booth kick)
JCN — Kraxner 83 kickoff return (Foulk kick)
M — Keling 4 run (kick failed)
M — Keling 7 run (kick failed)
JCN — Noll 25 run (Foulk kick)
JCN — Daniel Finley 45 pass from Kraxner (Foulk kick)