Royals Win Homecoming
The Royals held on to win a thriller against the South Walton Seahawks Friday night. The team helped cap off what Principal Brad Marcilliat called “a Great Homecoming Week” by winning a game that was a screamer from the first play to the last.
The first play from scrimmage Ricky Cofield, assisted by some great blocking, ran the ball 66 yards untouched to the endzone. The Seahawks moved the ball well on their first drive getting the ball to the Jay 42 but had to punt. A bad snap on the punt gave Jay the ball on Walton’s 25 yard line. But Jay failed to capitalize on Walton’s blunder. The Seahawks took over on downs on their own 20 yard line halfway through the 1st quarter. A penalty and big defensive plays by #44 Blake Pilgram and #58 Sawyer Hudson ended the drive.
Jay quickly scored again before the quarter ended with a drive on which sophomore quarterback, Tate Upton, #10, hooked up with senior #2, Sammy James for a 70 yard touchdown on second and 14. Jay missed the PAT making the score 13-0 with 44 seconds left in the 1st quarter.
South Walton gained big yardage on the ensuing return but ran two plays and fumbled. Haden McCaskill, #56, recovered the ball for Jay giving the Royals good field position on their own 44 yard line. Jay’s following drive was one of several that failed before the half ended. The 2nd quarter was a poor one for the Royals who fail to score on 4 attempts. The Seahawks moved the ball steadily scoring twice.
South Walton’s second touchdown came when the Royals had the Seahawks in a 4th and 25 pickle. South Walton’s offense came up with a big 35 yard run for a score. At halftime the Seahawks lead 14-13.
South Walton received the kick-off and opened the 3rd with a time consuming drive and scored on a 23 yard pass with 7:47 left in the 3rd bring the score to 21-13, South Walton.
Jay answered with an impressive drive of their own. The key play came when Cofield broke loose for a 27 yard run on 4th and 3 from the 44 yard line. The drive included a 34 yard pass from Upton to James and finished with a touchdown run and a 2 point conversion by sophomore Brandon Boutwell. Those 8 points tied the game at 21 with 1:53 left in the 3rd quarter.
Jay’s defense came out fired up and shut down the Walton offense forcing them to punt right at the end of the third period. Colton Williams returned the punt 24 yards to the Walton 42 yard line exciting the crowd.
The Jay drive that opened the 4th was sensational with two big pass plays from Upton to Connor Weekes. Weekes caught the ball in the end zone to score with 7:37 left in the 4th. The point after was no good making the score 27-21 Jay. Walton’s next drive would end prematurely when #56, Haden McCaskill, recovered his second fumble with 5 minutes left in the game.
Jay tried its best to use up time on its next drive but had to punt the ball to South Walton with 3 minutes left. The Seahawks muffed the punt and #22, Colton Williams, recovered the ball for Jay on the 2 yard line, setting up a Cofield touchdown. This gave Jay the lead 33-21 with 2:24 left in the game.
South Walton quickly came back after the kick-off and scored on their 3rd play off a big pass of 46 yards making it 33-28 Jay with 1:46 left to play.
The Seahawks then executed a successful on-side kick recovering the ball with 1:30 left on the clock. They moved the ball down the field to the Jay 6 yard line. A big defensive stand by the Royals ended when with 10 seconds left the Seahawks completed a pass that fell short of the goal line and time ran out ending the nail biter with the score Jay 33 South Walton 28.
homecoming 2011 |
The Royals showed that they have the confidence to fight when the pressure is on and need to be congratulated on staying focused despite all the distractions of homecoming. ” I am very proud for our kids” said coach Ken Smith. Next week the Royals will host the Northview Chiefs.