[EDITOR’S NOTE — Taft Youth Center is a juvenile detention facility. For security and privacy purposes, players’ names are not released for print.]

HUNTSVILLE — Taft Youth Center was supposed to be a multi-touchdown underdog. Someone forgot to tell the Tigers.

TYC rolled into Highlander Field Friday and nearly pulled an upset, battling Scott close throughout much of the game. But Coach David Gillum’s team prevailed in the end for their third consecutive win, defeating Taft 22-18.

The Highlanders (3-1) had their opportunities to put the game away in the first half, but four times marched inside TYC’s 15-yard-line and failed to score, including two goal-line stands by Taft inside the one-yard-line.

“We came out really, I think, expecting them to lay down,” Coach Gillum said. “We didn’t execute well offensively. That gave them some confidence and took a little of ours.

“In the second half, we executed a lot better, but penalties kept us from putting too many drives together,” Gillum added. “They had a couple of busted plays that put them back in the game.”

A couple of bright spots for the Highlanders included proficient passing by senior quarterback Josh Terry — who completed 16 of 19 passes for 144 yards — and the defensive play of junior defensive tackle Jacob Buttram, who forced and recovered two fumbles, scored a defensive touchdown and blocked a Taft punt.

“Jake is getting better every week,” Gillum noted. “The last two weeks, he’s had some very big plays for us.”

Offensively, the Highlanders posted 272 yards of total offense on the evening. In addition to his 144 passing yards, Terry led the Highlanders’ ground attack with 70 yards on 21 carries. Tailback Josh Jeffers added 65 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 15 carries.

Taft, meanwhile, was limited to 141 yards of total offense by Scott High, all of which came on the ground. The Tigers had only 39 yards of total offense in the first half and scored their lone touchdown before the intermission on a long kickoff return. But they were able to mount a couple of touchdown drives in the fourth quarter as their offense began to get on track.

TYC began the game with the first possession, but it did not take the Highlanders long to take over, as Buttram recovered the first of three Taft fumbles at the Tigers’ 38-yard-line on the first play from scrimmage.

But the Highlanders’ first possession would reflect what would become a pattern in the first half, as they marched deep into Taft territory before failing to score.

Behind the running of Jeffers and Terry, scott advanced the ball to the Taft one-yard-line, where they had a first and goal. But the Tigers turned in a spectacular defensive stand, holding the Highlanders to no gain on four consecutive plays and forcing the ball over on downs.

Taft then advanced the ball only to its own 18-yard-line before being forced to punt, as the Tigers’ quarterback was sacked on third down by Scott’s Gage Babb. But the punt blocked by Buttram, and Scott recovered at the 10-yard-line.

Again, Taft held its ground, and again Scott turned the ball over on downs inside the Tigers’ one-yard-line. Two plays later, disaster struck again for the Tigers, as a fumble was recovered by Terry Hicks at the Tigers’ 10-yard-line.

This time, the Highlanders avoided fourth-down-inside-the-one dramatics, as Jeffers broke free on first down for a 10-yard touchdown run, putting Scott on top 8-0 with 1:49 remaining in the first half after Terry found Josey Chambers on the two-point conversion pass.

Two plays later, the Highlanders turned in their fourth big defensive play of the first quarter. Again it was Buttram making it happen, as the junior took the ball away from Taft’s quarterback and carried it 25 yards for a touchdown, putting Scott on top 14-0 with 53 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

Taft would answer quickly, however, as the Tigers’ quarterback broke free on the ensuing kickoff for an 84-yard touchdown return, cutting the deficit to 14-6 after the conversion pass failed.

Neither team would score for the remainder of the first half, although Scott twice had opportunities to add to its lead.

On the ensuing possession, the Highlanders put together a 16-play drive to march the ball inside the Tigers’ 15-yard-line. But there the drive stalled, and the ball was forced over on downs at the Tigers’ 21-yard-line.

After a three-and-out by Taft, Scott had the ball back at its 35-yard-line with 1:51 remaining. The Highlanders were able to march to the Taft 36-yard-line, where Bryan Golden caught a deflected pass from Terry for a 30-yard pickup to the Tigers’ six-yard-line. But the Highlanders were unable to get the ball into the endzone before time expired, leaving Scott clinging to a 14-6 halftime lead.

The third quarter would prove to be a stalemate. The Highlanders would punt and turn the ball over on downs, while Taft turned the ball over on downs at Scott’s 31 on its only possession of the third quarter.

As the period ended, Taft had possession at its own 45-yard-line and began assembling an odd drive that would eventually end with a touchdown.

Following a holding penalty and a 12-yard sack by the Highlanders, Taft was backed up to its own 23-yard-line. A delay of game penalty backed the Tigers inside the 20, where it appeared that Scott would hold, as the Tigers faced an apparent punt on fourth-and-37.

The Tigers faked the punt, and appeared to be rolled down short of the first down. But a 15-yard personal foul face mask penalty against the Highlanders gave Taft an automatic first down at the Scott 41-yard-line. One play later, the Tigers broke free for a touchdown, cutting the deficit to 14-12 after the conversion pass failed.

The Highlanders would respond with a touchdown drive of their own, with Terry and Jeffers doing most of the work on the ground, with the exception of a 13-yard pass from Terry to Golden to move the ball inside Taft’s 15-yard-line. Two plays later, Jeffers capped the drive with a seven-yard touchdown run, putting Scott up 22-12 with 6:40 remaining after Terry carried the ball in on the two-point conversion.

Taft wasted little time responding, putting together a six-play, 58-yard drive to score on a two-yard run with 3:51 remaining, cutting the deficit to 22-18.

The Tigers chose to kick deep and give their defense an opportunity to hold the Highlanders rather than risk the onsides kick. The gamble failed, however, as Scott was able to pick up a pair of first downs and run out the clock on its third consecutive victory.