A-J rallies to top Sparta
Trailing 8-6 at the halftime, Anna-Jonesboro bounced back to score three third quarter touchdowns on its way to a 30-15 homecoming win over visiting Sparta in Southern Illinois River-to-River Conference Mississippi Division high school football action Friday, Sept. 25.
“I don’t think we played real well the first half,” A-J coach Brett Detering said. “Their speed gave us problems and we made some mistakes.”
The Bulldogs opened the game with an impressive seven-play drive that was capped by a 1-yard TD by London Oliver.
Oliver added the two-point conversion run and Sparta was ahead 8-0 with 8:09 remaining in the first quarter.
The Wildcats first drive stalled on an incomplete pass.
After the two teams traded punts, fullback Jordan Chamness set up A-J’s first TD on a fumble recovery.
Six plays later, Chamness scored on a 16-yard run. The two-point conversion run failed and A-J trailed 8-6 with 11:33 remaining in the second quarter.
The Wildcat defense stiffened to hold the Bulldogs on their next drive.
On A-J’s ensuing drive, the Wildcat receiver had the football stripped from him on an interception.
Both teams traded punts and A-J’s Josiah Miller closed out the first half by throwing running back Darius Jackson for a long loss.
The first half ended with A-J trailing 8-6 and in 24 minutes of football, Sparta’s offense had the football on a 16:35 minute to 7:25 minute advantage over the Wildcats.
“We certainly weren’t happy with what we had seen at that point,” Detering said. “We made some adjustments at halftime. We had to get it going.”
And how! The Wildcats came on for three third quarter TDs.
After Skylar Benefield made a good return on the second half opening kickoff, the Wildcats were on the move.
After a three-play drive, fueled around a pair of long runs by A-J quarterback J.R. Woodward, he scored on a 1-yard plunge.
The pass for the two-point conversion failed and A-J led 12-8 with 11:20 remaining in the third quarter.
Following a Bulldog punt, Chamness capped a five-play drive with a 5-yard TD run. The two-point conversion run was halted and A-J pulled ahead 18-8 with 7:02 remaining in the third period.
A personal foul against the Wildcats aided the Bulldogs on the ensuing scoring drive on a 10-yard TD pass from Blake Shelton to David Sams. Shelton’s extra point kick pulled Sparta to 18-15 with 4:23 left in the third quarter.
After an eight-play drive that was fueled around a long pass from Woodward to David Frank, Woodward scored on a 27-yard run. The two-point conversion run was halted and A-J was ahead 24-15 with 58 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
The Wildcats final tally was set up on a Brandon Cerney interception that was tipped by Brady Wright.
Woodward scored on a three-yard run after a five-play drive. The extra point kick was blocked and the Wildcats closed out the scoring with 5:29 remaining.
The Bulldogs rushed for 225 yards and had 62 yards passing.
“They did a nice job, their kids were ready,” Detering said. “We got some stops, but defensively, we didn’t play with a lot of technique.”
The Wildcats failed to score conversion points following any of their five TDs.
“The conversion points are something we have to get better at,” Detering said.
Woodward, who led the Wildcats 379 yard rushing attack with 162 yards in 13 carries, was one of many injured throughout the game.
Chamness, who added 102 yards rushing on 10 carries, was also injured.
“There’s not a whole lot you can do about it (injuries),” Detering said.
Both injuries to the two key players didn’t appear that severe and both were able to walk to the sidelines.
A-J’s Brady Carter added 68 yards rushing in 4 carries and Wright 38 yards in 2 carries.
Woodward was 2 of 5 passing for 26 yards.