COLUMBIA, Mo. - The Rock Bridge Bruins found it a little bit more difficult to maneuver around the Jefferson City defense in the second half of Friday night's 31-21 win.
The first half was a different story.
Rock Bridge running back Nick Collins had three touchdowns - two rushing - in the first quarter. He put the home side up 21-17 at halftime and compiled 204 total yards of offense in the first half.
In the second half? Collins was limited to just 17 yards on the ground and the Rock Bridge offense failed to put the ball in the end zone.
Jefferson City defensive coordinator Ron Cole said the Jays made an adjustment based on the Bruins' game plan.
Cole acknowledged the Bruins were aware of the absence of linebacker David Rogers, who is out for another week or two with an MCL injury.
"He's a really good linebacker," Cole said.
Jefferson City head coach Ted LePage agreed.
"You always miss a player, and Dave is probably one of our best leaders," he said. "So we miss him, but I thought A.J. Howard stepped in and did a very nice job. We've got a guy that's coming off the bench really and he really stepped up."
The Jays' adjustment was simple. Get into man coverage with a two-deep secondary.
But the most important part? Get to the quarterback.
Linebacker Jalen Martin had a sack and a half in the second half as the Jays rallied and flustered Rock Bridge quarterback Karson Ringdahl, who wouldn't return from a sprained right ankle suffered in the fourth quarter.
Defensive back Dennis Barnes came up with his second interception of the season late in the fourth quarter.
In the past two weeks, the Jays have held their opponents to just one second-half touchdown. But LePage wouldn't mind if they could replicate that effort to start the game.
"We have to to find a way to do that in the first half," he said.
In a larger sample size, the Jays have outscored their past four opponents 70-20 in the second half.
The Bruins' defense also made an adjustment in an attempt to slow down Jefferson City running back Denzel Wilson, who had 20 carries for 120 yards in the first half. He finished with 34 carries for 176 yards.
With the Bruins' defense locked in on Wilson, that's when quarterback Gunnar See went to work.
See found wide receiver Adam Huff once late in the third quarter for a 68-yard connection and another time early in the fourth for a 67-yard touchdown.
"We felt like we had an opportunity to exploit the middle of their defense," LePage said. "The way we were running inside, they had to adjust their secondary because they had to commit more guys to the inside than what they normally like. In doing that, they had to spin their secondary down which opened up some throwing lanes. ... Denzel did a great job early, they made some adjustments, but when they did make the adjustments, they pulled some stuff from their secondary and that allowed us to make a couple big plays over the top."
See finished 9-of-15 through the air and for 211 yards and three total touchdowns. His 2-yard scamper was the second touchdown of the game in the first quarter.
Wide receiver Daniel Ellinger drew onetime Missouri commit Bryce Banks. Ellinger is used to garnering attention from the opponents' best corner and seeing double teams is normal. It's a big reason what makes Huff so dangerous with his breakaway speed.
"They took their No. 1 DB and put him on Daniel," LePage said. "We anticipated that and thought we could get some matchups with Huff, and Adam is so fast. When he gets behind somebody, he's out the gate."
The win puts the Jays at 5-1 on the season with the final three games of the regular season at Adkins Stadium, starting with next week's Homecoming game against Confluence Prep Academy.
Six weeks in, LePage is pleased with where his team stands.
"We've got an offense where they can score at any point in time, and defensively we feel like we can get stops," he said. "The way the game was going, they had a very dynamic back that made a couple big plays for them, then we settled down. Once we did that, it just ignited our team."