In Foxworth Oct. 21, it was a tale of two halves between West Marion and Jeff Davis County. With the Region 8-3A title on the line, both squads came to play in the first half, but the Jaguars outlasted the Trojans in the second half to win 56-21.
The Trojans (5-4, 3-1) were without one of their best players in Octavious Harvey and played several freshmen on defense, allowing the Jaguars to score at will.
“I thought we played hard in the first half especially. In the second half, I thought we run out of gas for whatever reasons. We just couldn’t make a stop defensively and didn’t have the stopper out there,” Trojans head coach Brandon Thornhill said. “We just lost that battle on that side of the ball, and they didn’t make any mistakes. Some of it was us, and some of it was them with their execution. Hats off to JDC, they played pretty good football.”
The first half was full of fireworks with eight touchdowns scored and both teams going up and down the field at will, but the second half was all about the Jaguars as they outscored West Marion 20-0 in the third quarter to pull away.
West Marion went three-and-out to open the game, and Larry Magee’s 13-yard punt set the Jaguars up with great field position at midfield. Then on Jeff Davis County’s second play from scrimmage, Malcom Hartzog made West Marion’s Delandoe Watts miss at the line on a toss and took off for a 30-yard touchdown. The Trojans blocked the extra point, but the Jaguars had a 6-0 lead less than two minutes into regulation.
The Trojans responded, though, with a methodical 12-play, 63-yard touchdown drive to take a 7-6 lead. Running back Jakaden Mark continued his ascension as one of the best players in the county, picking up first downs on a pair of fourth downs and leading the way on a Magee 8-yard touchdown with 4:40 remaining in the opening quarter.
But it took less than 30 seconds for the Jaguars to retake the lead as Hartzog broke free for another long touchdown run, this time from 64 yards out to make it 12-7. Yet the first-quarter fireworks weren’t over.
Magee got the ensuing drive started with a 41-yard scramble and got the Trojans into the red zone with a 10-yard run. Mark took care of business from there, following great blocks by Corobbin Lee and Brent Lowery to scoot into the end zone from 11 yards out and put the Trojans up 14-12 heading into the second quarter.
However, it didn’t take long for the Jaguars to pull back in front. They took a 20-14 lead with just under eight minutes to play in the first half with a 12-yard run, then went up 28-14 with 2:29 left in the second quarter after Magee was stopped short on fourth down.
Needing a big play before the end of the half to keep the game from getting away, West Marion turned to Mark in the Wildcat. He eluded a tackle in the backfield, got to the edge and cut behind a downfield block by Magee before taking off for a 63-yard touchdown. Skyler Ezell drilled his third PAT of the game to cut it to 28-21 with just 1:29 left to go in the first half.
But with Jeff Davis County’s quick-strike offense, the Trojans left the Jaguars with far too much time. On the second play of the ensuing drive, Hartzog broke free yet again, taking it to the house from 65 yards out to make it a 36-21 going into halftime.
Following five rushing touchdowns in the first half, Jeff Davis turned to its play-action passing game in third quarter to put the game away. West Marion’s Davonte Matthews got caught with his hips flipped the wrong way on a double move that led to a 33-yard passing touchdown for the Jaguars.
Down 43-21 and desperately needing to score to keep up, an illegal man downfield penalty had the Trojans behind the chains and forced them to punt it back to the Jaguars. It got even more out of hand from there. Jeff Davis scored on a 61-yard pass on a scramble drill to go up 50-21, then after Magee was picked off trying to throw it away, the Jaguars struck again with a 51-yard rushing touchdown to go up 56-21 with 2:42 still remaining in the third quarter.
The game was pretty much over from there as both teams started subbing in their backups and neither team scored again.
The Trojans, who have already clinched a playoff berth, remain in great position to host a first-round playoff game. If they beat St. Patrick (1-8, 0-4) this Friday night, they will finish second in the district and be at home to open the postseason. Kickoff is at 7 p.m.
