Jeff Pugh notched his 100th career coaching victory after East Limestone earned a hard-fought 16-6 homecoming win over Lawrence County on Friday night.

“It doesn’t mean as much to me as these kids do,” Pugh said of the milestone. “All the kids that have played for me and the assistant coaches that have helped me. I’ve stood on the shoulders of a lot of good people.”

The Indians, who scored all their points in the second quarter, kept their playoff hopes alive. East Limestone and Lawrence County both now stand at 3-3 overall and 2-2 in Class 5A, Region 8.

Dominic White came up big for the Indians after a scoreless first quarter.

White, a senior wide receiver/strong safety, recovered a fumble at the Lawrence County 16-yard line that set up a 2-yard touchdown run by Jaden Benford for the game’s first score.

A 31-yard field goal by Sabian James gave East a 9-0 lead before the Indians forced a punt and took over at the LCHS 45-yard line with 1:21 to play in the first half.

After an incomplete pass and penalty pushed the Indians back to midfield, White caught back-to-back passes of 23 and 27 yards. The 27-yard toss from quarterback Andrew Parris found White in the end zone with just under a minute on the clock. James added the PAT and East took a 16-0 lead in at the half. Those two completions were Parris’ only completions of the game. Parris also had 42 yards rushing. Zach Cosby was the Indians’ leading rusher with 55 yards on 13 carries.

The second half was a defensive struggle.

Lawrence County put together a 12-play, 57-yard scoring drive that was capped by a 2-yard quarterback keeper by Payton Williams late in the third quarter.

Williams, who was 11-of-23 passing with no interceptions, completed key passes of 16 and 24 yards to Jacob Gholston during the Red Devils’ only scoring drive of the night.

“They’re a tough, good football team,” Pugh said of the Red Devils. “They came out and fought hard to start the second half. I knew they would.”

East Limestone will clinch a playoff spot with wins in its next two games against St. John Paul II and Russellville, as long as Lawrence County also loses one more region game in the next two weeks. 

Report courtesy of The Decatur Daily.