Jackets top Bacon 34-17

Jeff Davis High football team spotted Bacon County to early leads of 10-6 and 17-13 lead Friday night in Alma and, from there on out, it was all Jeff Davis as the Jackets improved to 6-1 with a 34-17 Region 1A, Div. 1 victory.
Bacon County dropped to 4-3 with the loss.
This week Jeff Davis hosts Rutland High School of Macon in a make-up of an earlier scheduled game that was postponed due to lightning.
The Yellow Jackets kicked off to start the contest and, when Bacon couldn’t move the chains, the Jackets took over at their own 37 and marched 63 yards in 9 plays to take an early 6-0 lead.
Kobe Hill started things with an 8-yd. burst up the middle. Quarterback Mark Durden then pitched to Ian Griffin around the right side and the senior running back followed his blocking for 21 yards into Raider territory at the 34. Three plays later, facing a 4th-and-1, Durden kept on a quarterback sneak to move the chains. On the next play, Durden and fullback Hill missed on a handoff, Durden kept the ball to his right, shook of a tackler, dodged three more tacklers and carried the ball into the end zone for a 24-yd. score. Fabian Valdelamar’s P.A.T. kick was blocked as the score stood at 6-0.
After the ensuing kickoff, the Raiders covered 65 yards in 7 plays to move in front. The big play in the drive was a 38-yd. pass completion on 3rd-and-15. They scored on a 6-yd. run and kicked the extra point to take a 7-6 lead.
On the kickoff, the Jackets fumbled and Bacon recovered at the Jeff Davis 32.
A 13-yd. pass completion moved the ball to the 19 but that’s when the Jacket defense stiffened. On 4th down from the 14, the Raiders kicked a 31-yd. field goal to go up 10-6.
The Jackets then rolled 79 yards in 9 plays to re-take the lead. Griffin had a 13-yd. carry in the march and Hill got 17 and 9 right up the gut as the Jacket front wall began to flex their muscles. R.J. Sims capped the drive with a hard-earned 3-yd. run up the middle. Valdelamar booted the P.A.T. and the Jackets led 13-10, early in the second quarter.
On their next possession, the Jackets fumbled again, this time giving the Raiders the ball at the Jacket 20. Bacon scored in one play, kicked the extra point and had the lead again at 17-13.
But from there, the Yellow Jackets dominated the game. With the offensive front wall controlling the line of scrimmage, the Jackets marched 80 yards in 13 plays to claim the lead for good. The P.A.T. kick made the halftime score 20-17 in favor of the Jackets.
The second half started with an exchange of punts and turnovers, with Durden intercepting a Raider pass. The 3rd quarter ended with another exchange of punts with the Jackets’ Jaiden King returning a Bacon punt from the Jacket 49 all the way to the Bacon 21 to set up a Jacket 4th quarter score. After the punt, Hill darted through a hole big enough to drive a truck through and sped to the Bacon 4 for a 17-yd. run. Hill scored from 4 yards out to make it 26-17. Valdelamar made it 27-17 early in the final quarter.
Messiah Swinson intercepted a pass and ran it back to the Bacon 39 but the Jackets couldn’t take advantage of the situation. Valdelamar tried a 35-yd. field goal but it was blocked. A penalty gave the Jackets another chance and Griffin scored in one play from the 9. With Valdelamar’s kick, the Jacket lead went to 34-17 and that’s the way it stayed.
Score by quarters:
JDHS 6 14 0 14 -34
BCHS 10 7 0 0 -17