Jonesboro-Hodge pitched their first shutout in three years to take a decisive 36-0 victory over D’Arbonne Woods in the district 1-2A opener for both teams this past Friday night in Farmerville. With the victory the Tigers improved to 3-2 overall while D’Arbonne Woods fell to 1-4.
J-H continued their mastery over the Timberwolves in the all-time series record, which now stands at 4-0, by completely stifling the D-Woods offense to 98 yards in total offense that included an interception and two fumble recoveries, one that was returned 25 yards by Ed’Tavious Drayton for a touchdown.
In contrast the Tigers had 266 yards in total offense led by the 110 yards passing and two TD performance by quarterback Tydre Malone who completed 8 of 13 attempts on the night. Malone also added 41 yards on 4 rushes and another touchdown while LaJavion Nichols pitched in with 70 yards on 7 tries and a touchdown. Recipients of the touchdown passes were Justin Calahan and Devontae Mozee. Davion McGuire also had a big night converting all four of his PAT attempts.
Tigers tie dubious record! The game was a complete mismatch but all was not well in the eyes of J-H head coach Terrance Blankenship who was not pleased with the number of penalties accrued by his squad. J-H tied an all-time school record with 17 flags in the game which ended up giving D’Arbonne Woods more yards in penalties than in total offense.
“We have got to clean that up and fast,” said Blankenship. “The worst part of it was that most of the penalties were simply because the guys were not focused. We got away with it this time but we won’t if we play like that next week.”
Quick start! J-H basically put the game away in the first quarter thanks to an offensive and defensive score. Nichols got the scoring started with a one yard plunge followed by the defensive touchdown by Drayton to give the Tigers a 15-0 lead after one period of play.
Third quarter dominance! After a scoreless second quarter Mozee caught an 11 yard pass from Malone to up the score to 22-0 early in the third. This was followed by Calahan reeling in a 10 yard aerial for the second passing TD of the quarter. Malone then ran one in from 9 yards out to complete the scoring on the night.
New faces shine! A pair of newcomers to the defense, Manuel Hernandez and Xavier Atkins continued their stellar play in the last couple of games to lead the defense in tackles. Hernandez, who moved into the starting linebacker role last week led J-H with 8 tackles (4 tackles for a loss) and 3 assists followed closely by the Freshman Atkins who tallied 7 tackles (2 tackles for a loss) and added 6 assists.
“We saw the way these two played in the JV games and thought they would make a good addition to the varsity defense,” said Blankenship. “They have made a good impact for us.”
Additional defensive stars! Javeon Andrews (7 tackles, 1 sack, 1 TFL, 1 FR), Connor Webb (6 tackles, 4 assist, 1 sack, 2 TFL, LaJavion Nichols (5 tackles, 5 assists, 1 TFL) and Ed’Tavious Drayton (5 tackles, 1 assist, 1 sack, 3 TFL, 1 INT) also had big nights. Peyton Smith 5 tackles) and Catavious Waters (4 tackles, 1 sack, 1 TFL) also posted season best efforts as did the team with their 4 sacks and a whopping 14 tackles for a loss.
JHHS (3-2, 1-0) 15 0 21 0 – 36
DWHS (1-4, 0-1) 0 0 0 0 – 0
Scoring summary:
1st quarter:
JHHS – Nichols 1 yd run (2 pt. conversion)
JHHS – Drayton 25 yd fumble return (McGuire PAT)
3rd quarter:
JHHS – Mozee 11 yard pass from Malone (McGuire PAT)
JHHS – Calahan 10 yard pass from Malone (McGuire PAT)
JHHS – Malone 9 yd run (McGuire PAT)
JHHS Game stats:
Passing: Malone – 8/13/110 yards (2 TD’s)
Rushing: Nichols -7/70 yards (1 TD), Malone – 4/41 yards (1 TD), Leonard – 3/23 yards, Hernandez – 2/ 19 yards, Drayton – 3/5 yards, Calahan 1 / 2 yards, Williams – 1 / (-2) yards, Jackson – 1 / (-2) yards
Receiving: Bowie – 2/34 yards, Calahan – 2/29 yards (1TD), Mozee – 2/25 yards (1TD), Nichols – 1/15 yards, Boston – 1-7 yards
Tackles: Hernandez – 8T/3A, Atkins – 7T/6A, Andrews – 7T, Webb – 6T/4A, Nichols 5T/5A, Drayton 5T/1A, Smith 5T,