Jackets win a thriller over ‘Canes, 29-20

Last Friday’s Jeff Davis-Fitzgerald football game was a battle of Class AA heavyweights, keeping the large crowd on the edge of their seats from start to finish.
The Yellow Jackets and the Purple Hurricanes battled tooth-and-nail until Coach Lance Helton’s Jackets survived with a 29-20 win, after a pair of key coaching decisions from both sides of the field.
The Jackets kicked off to start the game and the hustling kickoff team buried the Hurricane returner just outside his own 10 yard line. On the first play from scrimmage, Tye Rea flushed the quarterback and he and Jeremiah Davis combined for a 2-yd. sack. On 4th-and-12, Fitzgerald punted the ball away and the short kick put the Jackets in business at the Fitzgerald 31.
Six plays later, quarterback Mark Durden kept the ball on an option left and, with Jacob Laney driving a defender from the 10 to the goal line, Durden went into the endzone standing up. David Calderon kicked the P.A.T. and JD led 7-0 with just over 6 minutes left in the 1st quarter.
After another 3-and-out for the Canes, the Jeff Davis offense started again at their own 24.
A couple of runs and 2 penalties left the Yellow Jackets with a 3rd-and-16 at their own 18. Durden then kept the ball on an option left, jumped back to avoid a pair of tacklers, streaked to the outside and raced down the Jacket sideline all the way to the 38 for a 1st down. On the next play, Durden lateraled to Jacob Laney who eluded three tacklers at the line of scrimmage and broke outside for a 22-yd. run to the Fitzgerald 40.
But a fumbled snap turned over the ball to the Hurricanes.
Fitzgerald then put together a 12-play possession but a penalty stymied the drive and the Hurricanes had to punt on 4th-and-11 from the Jacket 40.
On their final possession of the 1st half, Fitzgerald marched 60 yards in 10 plays, scoring on a 25-yd. pass with just seconds remaining before intermission. The extra point kick tied the game at 7-7.
Durden took the 2nd half kickoff at his own 5, returned the ball up the middle to the 25, cut to his left to get outside and raced all the way to the Hurricane 35 for a 60-yd. return.
On the 1st play, Durden put the ball in the air for the 1st time and hit Jaiden West for an 11-yd. completion to the 24. After a flag backed up the ball to the 29, Durden kept around the left side, slipping past a tackler then turning on the jets off a block by Laney and went up the middle of the field for the score. Calderon added the P.A.T and Jeff Davis led 14-7.
On the 1st play after the ensuing kickoff, Kobe Hill stripped the ball from a Fitzgerald runner and Robert Bruin fell on the pigskin and the Jackets were in business at the Hurricane 30.
Hill broke loose and ran the ball to inside the Hurricane 10 but a penalty put the ball back at the 39. A quarterback sack pushed the ball back further and, on 4th-and-36 Calderon had to punt the ball away.
After picking up a 1st down, a couple of penalties left Fitzgerald with a 1st-and-20 at their 35. On 3rd-and-8 a pass over the middle picked up 42 yards to the Yellow Jacket 11 yard line. On 3rd-and-8 from the 9, a running play got the Hurricanes within 14-13. The P.A.T. kick tied the game again, this time at 14-all.
After Durden returned the kickoff to the 38, the JD offense got started in a hurry. Hill took the ball straight up the middle and, as Brice Bohannon cleared out the safety, Hill bulled his way 24 yards into Fitzgerald territory to the 38. The drive then faltered but, on 4th-and-10 from the 38, Braylon Varnadore took a pitch from Durden around the right side, broke into the open and raced to the 4 yard line, dragging tacklers on his back.
On the next play, Hill bulled his way into the end zone. Calderon’s kick made it 21-14 midway through the final quarter.
Fitzgerald took the kickoff and drove the ball steadily downfield in a 10-play drive, scoring on a 3-yd. run to make it 21-20 with 5:15 left to play.
On the P.A.T. kick, the Jackets jumped offsides leading to the deciding play of the game. With the ball moved to 1 1/2 yards from the end zone, the Hurricanes elected to go for 2 to take the lead. When the ball was handed off to the Fitz fullback up the middle, a hole opened but Hill came up from his linebacker position, met the runner at the line of scrimmage and dropped him short of the goal line. That left the Jackets with a 21-20 lead.
After a short kickoff, the Jackets started at their 36. Hill carried twice for a 1st down at the 46. A Hill run and a 14-yd. Durden keeper moved the ball to the Hurricane 39. Two more Hill runs and a Durden keeper gave the Jackets a 1st down at the 26 and it appeared the JD offense would run out the remainder of the clock.
But the Fitzgerald coaching staff did the only thing they could do — they ordered their players to not tackle the next Jacket runner to give them 6 points and stop the clock with an outside chance to tie the game.
But, after Hill carried the ball untouched for a 26-yd. scoring run, Helton made a strategic coaching move on his own. Instead of kicking the P.A.T. for a 28-20 lead, he elected to go for 2 for a 9-pt., 29-20 lead.
On the conversion attempt, Laney lined up at the right wing, cut across the field to the left side and was wide open in the end zone. Durden, facing pass-rush pressure warded off by Hill and Varnadore, lofted a strike to Laney for the 2 points and essentially deciding the game.
Fitzgerald tried an aerial assault to add another score in the waning seconds but sacks by Amare Burney and Marigus Sampson ended the threat. After Fitz turned over the ball on downs, Durden took a snap and knelt on the ball to run off the remainder of the clock.
Score by quarters:
JDHS 7 0 7 15 -29
FHS 0 7 7 6 -20

Statistics
Plays 43 60
Rush Yds. 262 168
Pass Yds. 11 116
Total Yds. 273 284
Turnovers 1 1
Pen.-Yds. 7-49 10-64

Rushes-Yds.
Mark Durden – 10-98
Kobe Hill – 16-91
Braylon Varnadore – 3-44
Jacob Laney – 2-19
Garrison Coleman – 2-10
Receiving-Yds.
Jaiden West – 1-11

Defense – Tackle/Assists
Kobe Hill – 6/7
Mark Durden – 4/3
Brice Bohannon – 4/1
Josh Worthington – 3/6
Jaiden King – 2/4
Kei’lyn Biggins – 2/2
Robert Bruin – 1/3
Marius Sampson – 1/3
Amare Burney – 1/2