DAPHNE, Alabama – Daphne capitalized on an early Yellow Jacket mistake to take a 7-0 lead on a T.J Fleeton touchdown from the McGill-Toolen six-inch line in the first quarter at Jubilee Stadium Friday night.

But the breaks for the home team seemed to dwindle from there as the visiting Jackets recovered to defeat the Trojans 38-21 in a non-region, but still-possible, playoff preview.

The fourth-ranked Jackets remained undefeated at 5-0 and while No. 8-ranked DHS falls to 3-2 overall. Both DHS losses are to non-region opponents and Top-10 teams.

“I'm not sure that fact (still undefeated in region play) makes me feel any better right now," said Daphne coach Glenn Vickery whose team had not lost a game at Jubilee Stadium since 2009. "Maybe later. You just have to give McGill credit tonight. They played better than we did. Played like the fourth-ranked team in the state.

"We made too many mistakes and you can’t make mistakes like we did against a good team like McGill. But I'm proud our guys kept fighting down to the end. They didn't throw in the towel.

"But we have to do a better job of limiting mistakes on our side and to be a playoff contender we have to play better than we did tonight. We didn't execute well and so we need to go back to work and focus on eliminating turnovers, finishing out drives and just find ways to get better."

Despite limiting speedy Mc-T senior quarterback and Auburn commitment Jason Smith to 56 net yards rushing and sacking him five times he managed to fling exceptionally accurate touchdown passes of 39 and 72 yards. The Trojans also, uncharacteristically, lost two fumbles and an interception in the second half.

McGill-Toolen kicker Thomas Hamlin was also effective limiting Daphne returns with endzone-deep kickoffs and nailing a 45-yard field goal in the first quarter as wall as hitting five extra points. He just missed a 39-yard attempt in the second half.

Daphne scored first to lead 7-0 after Trey Jenkins recovered a muffed punt at the McGill-Toolen 45. Jonathan McGaster then set up the TD with a 37-yard run. But the Jackets cut the lead on the Hamlin kick and took the lead 10-7 with just over two minutes left in the first quarter when Tyrelle Flowers scored on a five-yard run. Mc-T added to that with about two minutes left in the first half on a 70-yard Smith-to-Harrison Imsand bomb to make it 17-7 at the break.

Philbert Martial then went 95 yards with the second-half kick-off return and the Jackets led 24-7.

The Trojans scored on their next possession going 80 yards on seven plays with Fleeton connecting to Chris Sain in the Mc-T endzone. It was a catch for the ages. Sain basically reconstituted a broken-up pass with a second chance tip and an acrobatic Williie-Mays-style grab while flipping 360 degrees to keep both feet inside the endline. Tyler Cook who hit all three DHS point afters, missed a 43-yard field-goal attempt, close-but-wide, on the next series.

The first of two costly second-half fumbles then set up the Jackets' next scoring drive (55-yards) capped by Jeffrey Stanley's 3-yard TD run with 9:06 left in the game. Daphne trailed 31-14.

On the next DHS series, Fleeton hit Wheylen Tolbert for a big 32-yard passing gain into Jacket territory. But Greg Thomas then picked off a Fleeton throw at the Mc-T 39. The Jackets then ate up about three minutes while going the 61 yards and scoring on a 39-yard Smith-to-Chris Knowles TD strike.

Daphne had 4:54 left and managed to go 80 yards to score on a 7-yard Fleeton keeper in 1:53 seconds to make it 38-21. The TD was set up by a short outlet pass from Fleeton to McGaster who then carried it 45 yard to the Mc-T seven.

With the score 38-21 and the clock showing 3:01, Cook's onside attempt was recovered at midfield by the Jackets, but the Trojans held Smith and Company to three and out and Horace Johnson nearly blocked the punt. But the ball was away and rolled to the DHS 17-yard line from where the Trojan offense moved into Jacket territory again before another fumble and a recovery by Mc-T defender Blake Thompson with less than two minutes to go sealed the final score.

The region race resumes next weekend as DHS will travel to Dothan Oct. 5 and the Jackets will host Blount.