ST. LOUIS - The Jefferson City Jays hit the ground running in Friday night's 49-14 loss to the top-ranked Christian Brothers College Cadets.
The Jays turned to senior running back Denzel Wilson to carry the load. And he did not disappoint.
In what is still a young season, Wilson has shown to be a capable back in his first season as the starter in the Jays' backfield.
On Friday, Wilson rushed 24 times for 105 yards with a rushing and receiving touchdown.
"He just wants to play. He loves the game and he wants to play really hard," Jays coach Ted LePage said. "We kept trying to get him the ball to make plays."
Wilson proved his worth with his second straight week with more than 100 yards rushing. He has also seen success in the receiving game. The back was the Jays leading receiver Friday with six catches for 75 yards. The biggest one was a screen play in the first quarter that went for 24 yards and a touchdown in response to C.B.C.'s first score.
Senior running back/linebacker Nathaniel Bustamante wasn't as involved in the running game as he was last week. He rushed it four times for six yards a week after running 11 times for 55 yards and a touchdown. Junior wide receiver Adam Huff had six yards and two rushes.
Wilson's receiving touchdown was See's lone touchdown pass, as there weren't as many holes in the Cadets defense, compared to McCluer North last week. See completed 53.8 percent of his passes in his second start under center, finishing 14-for-26 through the air.
See was sacked three times in the third quarter - which largely contributed to his negative rushing total (-6) on 21 attempts - and had a difficult time connecting with his receivers in the third quarter, where the Jays couldn't capitalize on a stretch where the Cadets fumbled away a possession and muffed a punt, giving the Jays the ball inside their own red zone both times.
"There was something that happened that we were in control of. That's where I was disappointed," LePage said. "When we're in control, we shouldn't be making the mistakes. That's something we're going to have to work on.
"I was really displeased with our execution of our offense in the third quarter. If we execute again, I think we score 20 points, at least."
The Jays didn't put any points on the board in the second half, a fact LePage isn't proud of, but he also remained positive.
"We played with that team tonight," he said. "We had a great first half, but we had a poor sequence to end the first half. And as good a football team as they are, if you have a poor sequence, they're going to capitalize on it. They took a 21-14 game and made it a 35-14 game that fast. That changed the whole complexion of the game."
The defense was dealt with the task of slowing the star-studded Cadets, who had five different players reach the end zone in the game.
LePage said the Jays' defense at times looked good, especially early on, but was concerned about the lack of pressure.
"We never got in a defensive flow," he said. "There were a couple series where we looked like the defense that we can be, but overall, their quarterback stood back there and I don't know if we ever got close to him. That was frustrating."
As for C.B.C., LePage called them "relentless" and noted the Jays played them better a year after the Cadets won the matchup 47-0 at Adkins Stadium.
The Cadets' win Friday was their 17th straight dating back to last season. They are the defending Class 6 champs and will likely make a push to reclaim the title this season.
The Jays are at Hickman to wrap up their three-game road trip to open the season Friday. Jefferson City will open the home portion of its schedule in Week 4 with a game against DeSmet.