Friday, October 30, 2026

Northridge High School Jaguars Sports (Tuscaloosa, Alabama)

FootballSports

Jags claim early lead, but fall to Falcons, 28-14

Michael Clements

The Northridge Jaguars jumped out to a 14-0 first quarter lead over the visiting Central Falcons. However, the Falcons rebounded with 21 unanswered points to take a 21-14 halftime lead. The Jag defense played well in the second half, only giving up another seven points. Unfortunately, the offense failed to cross the goal line, with the end result being a 28-14 loss on the final home game of the 2026 season.

10-23-2026 — Tuscaloosa, Ala. — Northridge’s Demeriyan Cotton reaches for a pass during the Jaguars’ game against the Central Falcons.

The Falcons won the coin toss and elected to defer to the second half. The Jags took advantage and marched down the field and lit up the scoreboard first. Max Bruinton connected with Demeriyan Cotton for the first touchdown of the evening. Hicks Finison added the extra point, giving the Jags a 7-0 lead with 8:09 remaining in the first quarter.

10-23-2026 — Tuscaloosa, Ala. — Northridge’s Tate Espey hauls in a pass that would go for a touchdown during the Jaguars’ game against the Central Falcons.

After the Falcons missed a field goal attempt from the 20-yard line with 3:07 to go in the first quarter, Northridge moved down the field quickly to claim their second score of the evening. Bruiton connected with Tate Espey, who crossed the goal line with 1:17 remaining in the first quarter. Another Finison PAT stretched the Jag lead to 14-0.

Much to the dismay of the Jaguar Nation, the Falcons righted their ship and posted 21 points to the scoreboard in the second quarter. Touchdowns at the 10:13, 4:13 and 1:28 marks of the quarter resulted in a 21-14 lead for Central at the half.

10-23-2026 — Tuscaloosa, Ala. — Northridge’s Max Bruinton (9) looks for some blocking help from Julian Crenshaw (12) during the Jaguars’ game against the Central Falcons.

Having deferred after the opening coin toss, the Falcons first possession of the second half yielded the only other score of the evening, when Central scored with 8:36 remaining in the third quarter. The following kick gave the Falcons the final lead of the night at 28-14.

The Jaguar defense held the Falcons off the board for the remainder of the game. However, Central’s defense did the same to Northridge.

10-23-2026 — Tuscaloosa, Ala. — Northridge’s Julian Crenshaw (12) runs behind a block from Austin Posey during the Jaguars’ game against the Central Falcons.

Bruinton finished the game with 128 yards, connecting on 12 of 20 pass attempts. Two of those completions were touchdowns. Espey caught four passes for 61 yards and one touchdown. Cotton had six catches for 60 yards and one touchdown. Austin Posey and Dre Young caught one pass each, for four and three yards respectively.

Julian Crenshaw had 14 carries for 110 yards. Bruinton added 37 yards on the ground, on 10 carries. Cotton had one carry for three yards.

10-23-2026 — Tuscaloosa, Ala. — Northridge’s Anthony Hyche hauls down a ball carrier as Javeon Jenkins closes in during the Jaguars’ game against the Central Falcons.

Jaden Wright led the Jags with 9 total tackles. Crenshaw added eight total tackles. Jacori Jones and Javeon Jenkins totaled seven tackles. Jackson Pilsch finished with six tackles. Anthony Hyche and Kamari Mickens had four tackles each. Cotton added three tackles and Trindon Henderson and Jaylen Marshall had two tackles each. Jenkins was also credited with two sacks.