Big plays to start the third and fourth quarters made the difference in the Sylvan Hills Bears' 29-14 victory over the Jacksonville Red Devils at Blackwood Field on Friday night.
On the first play from scrimmage in the second half, senior linebacker Jonathon Hicks scooped up a fumble by Jacksonville running back Robbie Knowlin and returned it 17 yards to give Sylvan Hills a 22-7 lead.
On the third play of the fourth quarter, senior running back Brandon Bracely scored on a 52-yard run that gave Sylvan Hills a 29-7 lead.
Neverthess, Sylvan Hills Coach Jim Withrow could not overlook his teams' six turnovers. Jacksonville had two, and the teams combined for 27 penalties.
"This was terrible," Withrow said. "Terrible. If paid five bucks, I'd ask for my money back. The whole thing was a mess. I embarrassed. You know, turnovers, penalties. It was a mess."
Jacksonville reserve quarterback Rowdy Weathers' 69-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Stevie Eskridge cut Sylvan Hills' lead to 29-14 with 10:18 left in the game, but the Red Devils failed to score on two ensuing drives into Sylvan Hills' territory.
"We have to clean some things up," Jacksonville Coach Barry Hickingbotham said. "That's the bottom line. The kids played hard, and they have a lot of heart, but we have to tighten our belts up and find ways to get into the end zone."
Bracely carried 13 times for 101 yards to lead Sylvan Hills (6-0, 3-0 5A-Central).
Weathers completed 8 of 17 passes for 141 yards off the bench to lead Jacksonville (1-5, 1-2). Starter Brandon Hickingbotham completed 3 of 7 for 58 yards before he left with a shoulder injury in the second quarter.
"Jacksonville plays some decent people," Withrow said. "They're not bad at all."
Sylvan Hills held Jacksonville to 32 rushing yards.
"I thought our defense played really well in spots," Withrow said. "If you're looking for bright spots, I think our defense played real well at times."
Sylvan Hills scored first on a 21-yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback D.T. Fuller to senior wide receiver Cameron Sharp with 4:44 left in the first quarter.
Fuller's 17-yard touchdown run, followed by a two-point conversion sweep by senior JoJo Craft, gave Sylvan Hills a 15-0 lead with 9:57 left in the second quarter.
A 2-yard touchdown run by Shawn Ellis late in the second quarter put Jacksonville within 15-7 at halftime.
"We got a whole week to talk about this game," Withrow said. "We've got to clean some things up. I guess the thing positive about it was we won, but we weren't very impressive at all."
5A-SOUTH
HOT SPRINGS LAKESIDE 42, WHITE HALL 14
WHITE HALL — Colt Housely and Maurice Bradford combined for five touchdowns as Lakeside (5-1, 3-0 5A-South) rolled over White Hall (0-6, 0-3). Housely had three touchdowns and Bradford added two scores. Caleb Dean also had a touchdown. Lance Smith had 185 yards rushing and two touchdowns for White Hall.
Sports on 10/10/2015