A-J blanks host Sparta 28-0
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">The Anna-Jonesboro Community High School football team won its first Southern Illinois River-to-River Conference game this season in convincing fashion with a 28-0 victory over host Sparta Friday night, Oct. 16.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“They had a very good offensive attack and had a lot of ways to score,” A-J football coach Brett Detering said. “But I’m very, very proud of the way our kids played defense.”</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">A-J improved to 3-5 and Sparta fell to 5-3.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Bulldog quarterback Andrew Kordys was 30 of 49 for an impressive 250 yards passing in the loss.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“Eleven of their pass plays were five yards or less,” Detering said. “Our game plan was to stay away from big plays and they only had two pass plays for 30 yards.”</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">The nonexistent Bulldog rushing attack netted 25 yards in 14 carries.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">The Wildcats wasted little time taking charge from the outset.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">After the Bulldogs first drive stalled and they were forced to punt, A-J’s offense started clicking.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">With Alec Gold leading the rushing attack, the Wildcats’ Caleb Clover capped a 17-play drive with a 16-yard touchdown run.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">The extra point kick failed and A-J led 6-0 with 7:51 left in the opening quarter.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">The Bulldogs moved into Wildcat territory and Clover knocked down a Kordys pass on fourth down to thwart the drive.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Both teams offense failed to move and following an A-J punt, Sparta moved deep into Wildcat territory to the 1-yard line before being held.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">A-J quarterback Jake Stark was injured on the ensuing drive. Collin Prather came in to fill in for two plays until Stark returned.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">After a 7-play drive that was fueled around a 42-yard run by Clover, Clover then caught a 32-yard pass from Stark for the TD. Clover ran in the conversion points for a 14-0 Wildcat lead with 1:45 remaining in the first half.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“With the exception of that one drive, we stopped them. It was first and goal from the one and we held them three times,” Detering noted. It was a pretty big swing. We could have been down 7-6 and we go up 14-0.”</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">A-J’s Braden Benefield recovered a Bulldog fumble to thwart their final drive at the end of the first half.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">After A-J was forced to punt to open the second half, the Bulldogs’ ensuing punt appeared to be blocked by Nick Harvel.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">The Wildcats then marched downfield and after a 5-play drive, Clover scored on a 5-yard run.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Dakota Earnhart’s extra point kick put A-J ahead 21-0 with 5:57 remaining in the third quarter.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">The Bulldogs were halted on a fourth down play and A-J’s offense took over again.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">After a 4-play drive, Stark connected with Clover for a 32-yard pass. Earnhart’s extra point kick closed out the scoring with 1:21 remaining in the third period. </span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">The Bulldogs drove down field and appeared to score, but it was voided on a pass interference penalty.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Both teams’ offense then stalled in the final quarter.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Gold led the Wildcats’ 277-yard rushing attack with 193 yards in 27 carries. Clover had 74 yards on 7 carries.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Clover scored all four TDs for A-J.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“Caleb had a great game. Even on defense he made some tackles,” Detering said. “But it doesn’t matter who scores for us as long as we get the points.”</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Stark was 3 of 5 passing for 80 yards.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“Stark got hit on each one of those passes and completed them,” Detering noted.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">With injuries to several seniors, only four of the seven on the roster were dressed. Senior Zach Parr, who is also a soccer player and was nursing a finger injury, could possibly play in this week’s final game.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“We expect that to pay dividends next year,” said Detering of his lineup that boasts a lot of underclassmen. </span></p>