Jackets fall 20-7 to Cook

Friday night’s game between Jeff Davis and Cook in Adel was closer than the final 20-7 score indicated, as the Jacket defense played well but the offense couldn’t get its ball-control running game established for much of the evening.
Turnovers were the order of the night for both teams as neither the Jackets or the Hornets got much offensive consistency.
The Hornets took the opening kickoff and went to the air immediately, completing a 37-yd. pass over the middle to the Yellow Jacket 26.
But on their first running play, linebacket Carter Muullis raced in to nail the runner for a 2-yd. loss. But an encroachment penalty and a quarterback scramble gave Cook a 1st-and-goal at the seven.
Cook could get no closer than the three where, on 4th-and-goal, Karter Galbreath and Uriel Ortega Silva stopped the runner for no gain.
Cook threatened again later in the quarter, moving the ball into JD territory, but La’Trell Sellers picked off a pass at the JD six and returned the ball 94 yards for an apparent score. But a penalty flag nullified the return and the Jackets took over at their own 7.
A Hornet pass interception put the home team in business at the Jacket 36. A halfback pass quickly moved the ball to the Jeff Davis nine. Two plays later, Cook scored to make it 7-0.
The Jackets took the ensuing kickoff and Sellers quickly darted through a huge hole for 10 yards and a first down at the JD 39, as the first quarter came to an end. Kyrice Hunt ran twice for four and seven yards to midfield. The Jackets continued to march down the field where, from the Hornet 21, quarterback Colby Beach hit Carter Mullis over the middle for a touchdown. The extra point kick was blocked and Cook still led 7-6.
On the ensuing kickoff, the Hornet return man broke into the open and the kicker, Fernando Vega, was the only Jacket between the runner and the goal line and Vega downed him with a hard hit at the Jacket 44.
But they couldn’t move the chains and, on 4th-and-13, Mullis blew through the middle of the line to black the Hornet punt and Ian Griffin recovered the ball just inside the Cook 45.
Beach hit Galbreath for a 13-yd. completion to the Cook 31, but that was as close as the Jackets would get. On Cook’s final possession of the first half, Christian McDaniel and Jude Worthington came up with big defensive plays to hold the Hornets at bay.
Cook led at halftime 7-6.
On the second play after the second half kickoff, the Jackets fumbled and Cook recovered at the JD 21. The Hornets overcame a 4th-and-1 at the 12 as the JD defense almost held, but Cook scored on a 9-yd. pass on the next play and kicked the extra point to up the lead to 14-6.
After the kickoff, the Jackets overcame a 1st-and-15 with three running plays, then Beach hit Galbreath for a 12-yd. gain to midfield. But they could get no further and, on 4th-and-13, Konner Munsayac punted the ball 39 yards to the Cook 14.
Cook moved the ball out to the 42 on a 10-play possession but had to punt the ball from there early in the fourth quarter.
A fumbled punt return put Cook in business at the Jacket nine.
On the second play, the Hornets tried a pass over the middle but Eli Saunders made a diving interception and the Jackets took over at their own one yard line.
Mullis, who was a standout on both sides of the ball for the Jackets, gave the Jackets some breathing room with a 14-yd., tackle-breaking run out to the 16. Mullis had an 18-yd. run moments later to move the ball to the JD 41. But three plays later, on 1st-and-15 from the fifty, a Hornet defensive back stepped in front of a Beach pass and returned the ball all the way to the Jacket 19. The Hornets scored on the next play on a 19-yd. run and the hosts led 20-7.
That stood as the final score as neither team threatened the remainder of the game.
The Jackets fell to 2-3 with the loss while the Hornets improved to 2-2.