JACKSONVILLE --- Spurred by a pin-your-ears-back attitude, many times it’s a team’s defense that gets out front with respect to learning and performing in the game. That’s not the case Jacksonville.
On the heals of a 49-13 loss to county foe Alexandria, Golden Eagle coach Roland Houston lamented some of the areas where his defense was not up to par and needs to show improvement.
“We have problems tackling those real good running backs,” Houston said Tuesday, “getting those great running backs in the open field, those that make good cuts.”
Alexandria’s Terrell Stewart, one of those great backs --- probably among the top five in Calhoun County, gashed the Jacksonville defense on Friday night for 151 yards and a touchdown on a dozen carries. As a team, the Valley Cubs rushed for 384 yards, 234 of those in the first half.
With a strong rushing attack, Alexandria (3-1, 2-1 Class 4A, Region 6) mounted a commanding 35-0 halftime lead. But it wasn’t all on the ground where the Valley Cubs rolled to the win. They set the tone of their first drive with the difference in the two programs.
Faced with a fourth-and-goal situation from the 26-yard line, Alexandria opted not for a field goal, but to go for it all in one play. Quarterback Ethan Vinyard executed the play-action pass to perfection finding a wide-open Blake Muncher for the score.
Roland commented after the game that with more experience, his team could be able to handle situations like that in the future.
The game didn’t get completely out of hand until the fourth quarter, when back-to-back turnovers (and interception and a fumble) were capitalized on by the Valley Cubs.
With substitutions coming quickly in the second half, Jacksonville finished with 234 yards rushing, but only single-digit numbers in the passing game. The bulk of that yardage came from Nate Owen on one run, taking the ball 68 yards for a score. Owen finished with 103 yards.
The Golden Eagles’ other touchdown came from Jackson Pearson on a 10-yard run that capped a 66-yard, 12-play drive. Pearson finished with 74 yards.
The defensive deficiency of the tackling of those top-notch running backs won’t be able to take a back seat with the Golden Eagles this week, which is non-region play. Jacksonville visits Pleasant Valley this week with hopes of stopping the Raiders’ sophomore sensation Kyle Bean, who was a staple of PV’s deep playoff run last season.
Houston hopes he can get the problems of his defense worked out, and with the heroics this season by this freshman running back Coryell Elston that Jacksonville won’t have to wait too much longer for this season’s second victory.
Houston is also hoping, too, that this will be a good game for the fans of both schools. Jacksonville traded Lincoln, one of the top teams in Class 4A, for the Raiders in the midseason non-region spot. With a team from Calhoun County against two programs of much closer levels, Houston thinks it could be a great game.
“Jacksonville used to play Pleasant Valley, but they kind of got away from it,” Houston said. “Me and coach (Jeff) Davis talked about it and think it could be a really good local game.”
