A-J defeats Sparta 37-22

Damian Reed scored three touchdowns to lead Anna-Jonesboro to a 37-22 win over host Sparta in Southern Illinois River-to-River Mississippi Division high school football action Friday, Sept. 28.

“Reed ran the ball really well,” A-J football coach Brett Detering said. “It’s certainly not a surprise. He’s been doing that most of the year. We were getting big yards in chunks and he was making a lot of them himself.”

Reed powered the Wildcats’ 381-yard rushing attack, gaining 175 yards on 15 carries.

“That’s something really good to see for him,” Detering said. “But I think we ran the ball effectively.”

Reed wasn’t the only successful rusher though. Austin Noble rushed for 89 yards on 14 carries. Quarterback Jay Kemp had 85 yards on 16 carries. Josh Merriman added 17 yards and Alex McRaven had 18 yards.

McRaven saw duty for the first time this season in the Wildcats’ backfield.

“We started working with him in training camp and we felt this game was a good game to get him some experience (at running back),” Detering said.

“They really didn’t stop us. The only time we got stopped, we stopped ourselves.”

The Wildcats’ initial  drive stalled deep in Bulldogs’ territory when they fumbled and Sparta recovered.

Sparta was forced to punt  on their first drive. A-J’s offense took over near midfield and were able to score five plays later on a 48-yard touchdown run by Reed.

A-J attempted to kick the extra point but Sparta was called for an offsides penalty. A-J then opted to try for a 2-point conversion and was successful. A-J led 8-0 with 24 seconds  remaining in the first quarter.

McRaven intercepted Sparta quarterback Elliot French’s pass to set up the  Wildcats’ next score.

A-J scored again on a 7-yard run by Reed. The touchdown capped a six-play drive that was fueled around a long run by Reed.

Sparta was called for an offsides penalty again on the extra point kick attempt. Merriman then scored on the 2-point conversion run to give A-J a 16-0 advantage with 8:31 remaining in the second quarter.

Running back Sarvel Austin was able to get the Bulldogs’ offense rolling on their next possession. He dominated the drive, carrying the ball seven times. He then scored on a 23-yard run on the eighth play of the drive.

The 2-point conversion was successful on a run by Phil Lockart to pull Sparta to within eight points with 4:28 remaining in the first half.

The Bulldogs fumbled on their next possession and A-J’s Joe Stark recovered. Two plays later, Reed scored on a 4-yard run. Garrett Nadeau’s extra point kick gave the Wildcats a 23-8 lead with 1:43 remaining in the first half.

Kemp intercepted quarterback Elliot French’s pass to end Sparta’s next drive just prior to halftime. A Wildcats penalty near midfield ended the first half.

The Wildcats’ first drive of the second half was halted after Kemp had a pass intercepted.

The Wildcats were able to regain possession after forcing the Bulldogs to punt.

A good punt return by McRaven got the drive off to a good start and on the ninth play of the drive, he also scored on a 4-yard run. Nadeau’s extra point kick gave A-J a 30-8 lead with 1:22 remaining in the third quarter.

The Bulldogs offense then began to get on track. Faced with a fourth down and long yardage situation, French connected with Kyonta Fuller for a 17-yard TD pass. A successful 2-point conversion run by Lockart  cut into A-J’s lead. The Wildcats led 30-16 with 8:43 remaining in the game.

A-J’s McRaven scored on a 6-yard run on the fifth play of their next drive. Nadeau’s extra point kick put A-J ahead 37-16 with 3:44 remaining in the game.

With 27 seconds remaining in the game, French connected with Bradley Williams for a 21-yard TD pass. The conversion run failed and Sparta closed out the scoring in the game, giving the Wildcats the 37-22 win.

“I felt like our kids did a good job offensively,” Detering said. “Defensively, we felt like we could have defended them a little better. They had a couple of big runs they broke and we’ve talked about that. We can’t give those up in a big game.”

Austin rushed for 121 yards of Sparta’s total 156 rushing yards.

“I didn’t think the score was reflective of the game,” said Detering. He noted that the two late Bulldog scores came when several reserves were on the field. “You can’t really concern yourself with what the score is. We had some other kids in there trying to get some vaulable playing experience.”