Jackets Top Glenn Hills 35-6

Jeff Davis High got its football season off on the right foot in Augusta Friday night as the Yellow Jackets took a 35-6 victory over Glenn Hills in a non-region game.
The game was never seriously in doubt as the Jacket down linemen controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. The Jackets moved the ball steadily throughout the first half and Glenn Hills had only one sustained drive the entire evening. The second have was marred by flags as both teams were stymied most of the final two quarter.
The Spartans were flagged three times on their first possession and wound up gaining little, punting the ball away to the Jackets at their own 40.
The Jackets went right to work and rolled 60 yards in 10 plays with Austin Wood taking the ball around the left side and racing 29 yards untouched into the end zone for the first JD score of the 2018 season. He cut off a key block by fullback Jashaun Kirby and the Jacket line did their job to perfection as no defender came close to touching the sophomore wingback.
Audiel Placencia booted the extra point to give Jeff Davis a 7-0 lead.
On the second play after the kickoff, Javarion Coleman put himself in perfect defensive position and the Spartan quarterback threw the ball right to him at the Glenn Hills 30 and he returned the interception untouched into the end zone to make it 13-0. Placencia kicked the extra point and the Jackets were quickly in front 14-0.
After an exchange of possession, the Spartans had the ball at the JD 45. But on the first play Steven McKever penetrated four yards into the Glenn Hills backfield and forced the ball out of a Spartan ball carrier’s grasp at the Jeff Davis 49. The pigskin rolled all the way to just outside the Glenn Hills 40 where Doston Bailey and Emanuel Rumph jumped on the ball to put the JD offense back in business.
It took the Jackets 10 plays, overcoming a pair of penalties to cover the distance. Wood started the drive with a 10-yd. run. But a pair of 5-yd. walk-offs against the Jackets left them with a 1st-and-20 situation. After a short run and a dropped pass, quarterback Britt Metts connected with Sam Snell at the 35 to make it 4th and 5. Metts then connected with Wood on the left sidelines for a 10-yd. pickup and a first down at the Spartan 25.
Metts then went to the air again, hitting Rumph for 12 yards and a first down at the 13. After Kirby got four, Rumph got outside for nine yards and a score but a flag nullified the play making it 2nd-and-17 from the 20. Metts got most of the yardage back with a strike to Snell for 14 yards to the six. Rumph then took it inside to the one and ran again into the end zone to up the tally to 20-0. Placencia’s kick made it 21-0.
On the ensuing kickoff, the Spartan returner almost got loose for a score but Wood, playing safety, ran down the Spartan at the Jacket 34.
It took Glenn Hills eight plays to get on the scoreboard, scoring on a tipped pass completion to cut the score to 21-6. After a penalty on the extra point attempt, Glenn Hills went for two but the JD defense stopped them.
After the kickoff, the Jackets took over at their own 37 and on the first play, Kirby took the ball off the right side, cut back against the grain to the sidelines, then reversed field back to the middle and carried the ball all the way to the Glenn Hills 16 for a 47-yd. pickup.
A penalty backed up the Jackets to the 30. Rumph then picked up 7, Kirby ran for 8 to the 15, and two plays later, a reverse completely fooled the Spartans and James Wood raced into the end zone for 14 yards and a 27-6 Jeff Davis lead. Placencia’s toe made it 28-6 at halftime.
After taking the second half kickoff at the 30, the Jackets had two big plays as the offensive line opened big holes for Kirby to run for 15 and Rumph to pick up 12 on back-to-back plays. But drive fizzled after reaching the Glenn Hills 31.
After an exchange of punts, most of the remainder of the game was marred by penalties as the officiating crew got flag happy against both teams. Finally, late in the final quarter, the Jackets drove 50 yards for their final score of the evening. Rumph picked up most of the yardage in the drive with Kirby supplementing. Then Metts hit Snell with a short pass to the left and Snell broke a tackle and ran into the corner of the end zone for a 15-yd. TD pass. Placencia made it 35-6.
The defense was superb throughout the game coming up with several key plays.
In addition to McKever’s forced fumble, Bailey and Emanuel Rumph combined for a second quarter quarterback sack and, in the third quarter, Bailey and Ethan Cox combined for another sack.
Coleman, Cox and Bailey were the top three defensive players for the Jackets. Coleman had the interception return for a touchdown, Cox had three tackles, two for losses and a half a sack, while Bailey had three tackles, one for a loss and a sack. Coleman also earned player of the game honors. Tre Chandler had 3.5 tackles
The defense held the Spartans to just 91 yards of offense, 63 on the ground and 28 through the air. The Yellow Jackets did not have a turnover while the JD defense recovered a fumble and intercepted a pass.
The Jackets rushed for 256 yards and picked up 78 through the air for 334 total yards. Kirby led the offense with 137 yards on 23 carries. Rumph ran 14 times for 67 yards. Austin Wood had a 29-yd carry, James Wood had a 15-yd. carry, and Cedric King ran once for eight yards.
Metts was 8-for-14 passing for 78 yards. Snell had three catches for 33 yards, James Wood had two catches for 26 yards, Austin Wood had a10-yd. catch, Alex Pizano and 8-yd. catch and Rumph a 1-yd. catch.
Score by quarters:
JDHS 14 14 0 7 -35
GHHS 0 6 0 0 – 6