Royals tame Tigers; Now 5-0!
Thursday-Well, if there was any question as to how the Royals would handle adversity, that question was answered on Thursday night. Chipley took their opening possession and marched down the field for a six play touchdown scoring drive. On their first possession, Jay would get one first down, then punted the ball back to Chipley. Jay’s defense forced a quick punt, but Jay would turn the ball back over to Chipley at midfield two plays later. The first quarter ended with Jay’s defense once again getting a 3rd down stop.
The Royals got the ball back on a punt to start the second quarter. After a first down pickup, Jay’s offense found a spark on a 1st and 10 from the 40 yard line when senior quarterback Hayden Morris decided to scramble on an exciting touchdown run thanks to multiple receivers blocking downfield.
Again, Jay’s defense forced another Chipley punt and Jay’s offense marched down the field but came up just short of scoring after a failed 4th down attempt from the 3 yard line. The half would end with a 7-7 tie.
The Royals got the ball to start the 2nd half and looked poised to score on a six minute plus drive, but the possession ended when Chipley intercepted a Jay pass at the 3 yard line.
“We left some points on the field, but really just controlled the game after the first quarter,” head football coach Brian Watson stated.
Jay’s defense rose to the occasion once again, sacking the Tiger quarterback in the endzone, recording a safety. On the ensuing possession, Jay would cap off a 9 play drive when Hayden Morris scored on a designed quarterback run from the four yard line.
With a 16-7 lead going into the fourth and complete control of time of possession (Chipley’s offense took three snaps the entire third quarter) Jay’s offense stayed balance mixing up the run with the pass. Jay would score once more after a quick Chipley possession to add to their lead, 23-7.
The Tigers would strike back, thanks in part to a 45 yard kickoff return that gave Chipley’s offense a short field. But that’s as close as the Tigers would get, leaving the score 23-13.
Quarterback Hayden Morris finished with 84 yards on the ground with 2 touchdowns adding 68 yards in the air, completing 6 of 9 pass attempts.
Greyson Sheehan added 55 yards on the night on five carries while freshman Jayden Youngblood carried the ball for Jay 30 times with 117 yards and one touchdown.
“Just proud of the guys. We had a short week and then it rained the first two days of practice so preparations were not how we wanted it. But the kids dug in and just battled all night,” Watson added.
Next up for Jay is a short road trip to rival Flomaton next Friday.
