The scene on the field with the final seconds winding down said it all. After J-H players had chased down head coach Terrance Blankenship and assistant coach Anthony Anderson to douse them down with water to celebrate Jonesboro-Hodge’s convincing 30-0 victory over Cedar Creek, when they came to defensive coordinator Carlos Hicks he just faced them, raised his hands in the air and let it rain.
And why not?
No one deserved to get the celebratory bath more than Hicks, whose pristine game plan proved to be critical in the Tigers’ victory. By “loading the box,” the Tigers shocked the visiting Cougars by completely smothering the vaunted Cedar Creek rushing attack that was averaging nearly 300 yards a contest coming in, to allow a mere 70 yards in 33 attempts.
“We knew we had to stop their running game,” said a soaking wet but smiling Hicks, following the game, who refused to take any credit for the play of the Tigers’ defense. “You have to give the guys on the field all the credit, though they are the ones who made the plays all night.”
The defensive effort that gave up just seven first downs in the contest was impressive indeed and continued a late-season pattern of limiting opponents renderless, now having allowed no scores in 10 of the last 12 quarters played over three games.
The closest that Cedar Creek came to scoring was late in the game with JHHS holding a 30-0 lead, but the Tiger defense refused to let the opportunity to register two shutouts in the same season since 2021 go by the wayside by stopping a last-ditch rushing attempt short of the goal line.
“I was happy for our defense to stop them from scoring,” said triumphant JHHS head coach Terrance Blankenship. “The way they played all night, they deserved to get the shutout.”
With the victory, JHHS ended the regular season with a 7-3 overall record, the best mark in four years, and a 5-1 mark in District 1-1A, good for second place. Cedar Creek, which came in having achieved a tremendous “turnaround” season after going 1-9 last year, ends the year with a 6-4 mark and a 4-2 mark in district play.
By virtue of no worse than a #9 ranking, the Tigers have also secured a first-round home playoff game against an opponent to be determined on Monday, when the LHSAA releases the Division IV bracket for “non-select” schools.
“We are anxious to see if the win will help us move up one more spot,” said Blankenship. “If we can get to #8, that would give us the possibility of hosting the first two playoff games, provided we win the first one.”
The Tigers wasted no time in exerting their dominance, but it was only after dealing with adversity on the very first play of the game when JHHS fumbled the opening kickoff to give Cedar Creek the ball on the Tiger 39-yard line.
“The game certainly didn’t start like we wanted,” laughed Blankenship. “We had won the toss and elected to take the ball first, only to give it right back to them.”
Yet when faced with adversity, it seems to bring out the best in the resilient Tigers squad. This is evidenced by JHHS falling behind by two scores in the first half of a game five times this year, only to come back and win each contest.
“Adversity is our friend,” said Hicks, tongue in cheek. “We’ve learned to love it when we are faced with adversity. It seems to bring out the best in our guys.”
When dealing with the lemon, such as the turnover on the opening kick, the Tigers quickly “made lemonade” when Dakota Knox stepped in front of a Cedar Creek aerial after the Tigers’ defense had forced the Cougars into a 4th-down situation and raced 71 yards to paydirt to give JHHS a 6-0 lead before the Tiger offense had even touched the field.
The lead went to 12-0 minutes later when the Reginald Hemphill pounced on a dropped snap by the Cedar Creek quarterback, setting up a pair of Dakota Knox to Jaquan Qualls receptions of 13 and 14 yards, the latter being the first touchdown reception in the transfer from Lincoln Prep’s varsity career.
The lead ballooned to 18-0 in the second quarter, when, after another strong JHHS defensive “three and out” effort and a short Cougar punt, Knox rambled five yards untouched into the end zone to cap off a 4-play 47-yard drive after Knox found Qualls again for a 36-yard completion.
While the Tigers’ defensive effort in the first half was impressive, their third-quarter performance took things to another level. Twice, Cedar Creek had the ball only to lose three yards in six plays as Cedar Creek, which was having no luck running the ball, tried the airways, only to find no success there either.
JHHS, on the other hand, was having its way with the Cougar defense, scoring in 2 plays on the first drive, the capper being a 30-yard Knox to Qualls connection and then ramming the ball down the Cougars throat with a punishing ground attack that ended with a 20 yard Landon Boston jaunt to give JHHS the winning margin after the Tigers had rushed for 21 and 11 yards on the prior two plays.
Offensively, Dakota Knox had his best passing percentage performance of the year by completing 7 of 8 passes for 90 yards and 2 TDs, while Landon Boston led the Tigers’ rushing attack with 65 yards on just 8 carries. Qualls was the leading receiver, turning in a career-best stat line of 4 receptions for 79 yards and 2 scores.
The Tigers’ defensive effort was the story of the game, though as JHHS had 7 tackles for a loss, with Sadaar Stevens, Kyron Atkins, and Hemphill recording two each, and Dylan Hayes getting yet another to go along with two interceptions by Knox, one returned for a touchdown.
| TEAM | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | FINAL |
| Jonesboro-Hodge (7-3, 5-1) | 12 | 6 | 12 | 0 | 30 |
| Cedar Creek (6-4, 4-2) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
JHHS: Knox 71 yard interception return (XP no good)
JHHS: Qualls 14 yard reception from Knox (2 pt pass no good)
JHHS: Knox 5 yard run (2 pt run no good)
JHHS: Qualls 30 yard reception from Knox (XP no good)
JHHS: Boston 20 yard run (2 pt run no good)