LIVINGSTON — Scott High snapped a 12-game region losing streak and kept its playoff hopes alive with a thrilling 23-20 win over Livingston Academy here Friday evening.

Josh Jeffers scored a go-ahead touchdown with 2:15 remaining and the Highlanders’ defense recorded two of their five forced turnovers in the final two minutes as Scott prevailed over the Wildcats in a homecoming spoiler.

The Highlanders’ (4-3, 1-2) last region win had come at Gibbs on October 1, 2004, when Scott defeated the Eagles 26-20.

With the win, the Highlanders shoved their way into the Region 2-3A playoff race. Scott must defeat Kingston tomorrow (Friday) night on homecoming night at Highlander Field to keep their playoff hopes alive.

The loss dropped the defending state champion Wildcats to 1-6 on the season and 0-4 in region play. Josh Terry led the Highlanders’ offense with 101 yards rushing on 20 carries. The senior quarterback added 96 yards through the air while completing 11 of 22 passes.

Junior tailback Josh Jeffers added 80 yards and two touchdowns on 17 carries. Josey Chambers caught six of Terry’s passes for 46 yards to lead the Highlanders’ receiving corps.

Sophomore defensive back Jared Sexton came up with a big game for the Highlanders. Sexton forced and recovered a fumble by Livingston quarterback Levi Holt on the Wildcats’ first possession, and returned the fumble 19 yards to the Highlanders’ 16-yard-line to set up the game’s first score.

In the second quarter, Sexton returned an interception 67 yards for a touchdown, and in the fourth quarter recovered a Holt fumble to help the Highlanders seal the win. Sexton also caught four passes for 37 yards.

Defensively, the Highlanders played well against the run, limiting Livingston to 87 yards rushing — 38 of which came on play on a third quarter touchdown run by Holt — but gave up 161 yards through the air, as Holt completed 10 of 26 passes. The Highlanders recorded three interceptions.

After Sexton’s fumble recovery set the Highlanders up at the Wildcats’ 16-yard-line early in the game, Sexton plunged in from six yards out to give the Highlanders an early 6-0 lead after the point after try failed.

The Highlanders defense played especially well for much of the first half, preventing Livingston from picking up a first down until midway through the second quarter.

After the two teams exchanged punts for much of the opening period, Scott High put together a threatening drive late in the period that began on the Wildcats’ 46-yard-line. The Highlanders would reach Livingston’s six-yard-line before the drive stalled, and Terry’s third down pass was intercepted in the endzone by Livingston’s Dustin Looper.

After another exchange of punts, Holt looked deep and disaster struck for the Wildcats, as Sexton picked off the pass at his 33-yard-line and returned it 67 yards for the score, putting Scott up 14-0 after Terry and Chambers hooked up for a two-point conversion pass.

After the ensuing kickoff went out of bounds, giving Livingston possession at the 35-yard-line, the Wildcats wasted little time getting back into the game, as Holt flipped the ball on an option lateral to Steven Morgan, who broke free for a 65-yard touchdown run, cutting the deficit to 14-6 after the point after kick failed.

The Highlanders were forced to punt on the ensuing possession, and Livingston again put together a drive that moved down the field. But after reaching the Highlanders’ 19-yard-line, the drive stalled, and Livingston turned the ball over on downs at the 24-yard-line with 2:37 remaining until the intermission.

The Highlanders appeared to be marching towards a final touchdown before the half, but a fumble following a completion from Terry to Sexton was recovered by the Wildcats at their 39-yard-line.

Two plays later, however, Ryan Golden intercepted a Holt pass at midfield and returned it to the Wildcats’ 10-yard-line, setting up a play that would prove to be the difference in the ballgame. With 15 seconds remaining before the half, Eric Bowling booted home a 30-yard field goal to give the Highlanders a 17-6 halftime advantage.

Livingston owned the third quarter, first recovering an onsides kick at the 38-yard-line, and following with a 38-yard touchdown run by Holt one play later to cut the deficit to 17-12.

After penalties killed the ensuing drive by the Highlanders, Livingston regained possession at its own 40-yard-line and again scored, on a three-yard run by Morgan, giving the Wildcats a 20-17 lead with 5:17 remaining in the third quarter.

Scott High marched downfield on the ensuing possession, driving as deep as Livingston’s 11-yard-line before the drive stalled. A fourth down pass by Terry fell incomplete, allowing the Wildcats to maintain the lead.

After a Livingston punt, Scott took over at its own 30-yard-line with 8:14 remaining and put together the winning drive, marching 70 yards on 12 plays and taking nearly six minutes off the clock before Jeffers scored on third-and-goal with 2:15 remaining, putting the Highlanders up 23-20.

Three plays later, the Highlanders appeared to be headed for certain victory when Sexton recovered a Holt fumble at the Livingston 43-yard-line with 1:53 remaining. But Scott was unable to run out the remaining clock, and turned the ball over on downs at the 39-yard-lin with 13 seconds remaining.

But needing a near miracle, the Wildcats wouldn’t find the endzone again. After Holt’s first pass fell incomplete with seven seconds remaining, the Highlanders intercepted his final attempt with 1.9 seconds remaining in the game.