It was a fairly typical start for Jefferson City on Friday night.
The defense allowed two long touchdown passes, which has continued to be an issue for the Jays. But Battle was also forced to punt it five times in the first half.
After letting Drey Tyler get open in the flat for a 21-yard touchdown catch from Jaren Lewis to give the Spartans a 14-7 lead in the final seconds of the first quarter, Jefferson City's defense held up the rest of the way to lead the Jays to a 31-14 Homecoming win at Adkins Stadium.
While the defense was doing its job, Devin Roberson and Christian White were playing catch against a Spartan defense that only gave up seven points during their three-game winning streak.
White caught seven of Roberson's 11 completions for 153 of the 254 passing yards for the Jays. White totaled eight receptions for 188 yards.
"I'll throw it to anybody who's open," Roberson said.
White was open quite often.
His first of two touchdown grabs came on the Jays' opening drive.
The Jays survived two sacks and a false start penalty to drive it 50 yards in six plays, capping it off with a 26-yard pass from Roberson to an open White in the end zone. Jefferson City led 7-0 against Battle (5-3), the fourth-ranked team in Class 5.
"He got behind the secondary and made the catches when he was supposed to, and I was really proud of him," Jefferson City coach Ted LePage said. "We knew they were going to put their best DB on Maleek (Jackson), and we told Christian he was going to step up and have a big game."
White's second touchdown came with time running out in the first half.
Jefferson City got the ball at the Battle 47-yard line with :42.9 remaining. One of six personal foul penalties on Battle set up the field position.
"They play with an edge," LePage said. "That's the way they are going to play. We knew that coming in. We told our players, don't get baited into something, because they are really good at playing physical, on-the-edge football. I don't mind that, I told (Battle coach Justin Conyers) I really respect that. But there were times that it benefited us that they played that way."
White caught a 7-yard pass on the first play and got behind the defense on the second play for a 40-yard touchdown with just 4 seconds on the clock. Folz's third of four PAT's made it 21-14.
"We kept our cool and executed when it mattered the most," Roberson said.
Jefferson City used a trick play to help cushion its lead.
Following a Ryan Brooks interception with about 15 seconds left in the third quarter, the Jays called a half-back pass to begin the drive.
Battle wasn't fooled, but White leaped in the middle of three defenders for a 35-yard reception from Noah Jahr.
"I told the players we had all kind of stuff set up for tonight," LePage said. "I was not going to come out here and not coach to win this game for these players. We were going to go all out tonight."
Jackson added a 22-yard catch to get the Jays inside the 5-yard line and Rosser powered up the middle for a 1-yard score for a 28-14 lead with 10:11 remaining in the game.
The Jays could only manage 89 yards on 42 rushing attempts, but Jahr, who moved from defense to offense last week, gained 72 yards on 17 carries.
"We felt like if we could run the ball, we could kind of get our passing game going more," LePage said. "I was really proud of our offensive line, I challenged them this week. I was not a real fun coach for the offensive line."
Defensive tackle Erick Schwarz helped close out the game with a third-down sack midway through the fourth quarter. An incomplete pass followed to turn the ball over to the Jays at the Battle 23-yard line.
"We felt like we could get pressure," LePage said. "We felt like we had some good matchups. A physical game. We knew they were going to be physical, but I felt like if we kept constant pressure with just four guys we could cover them. We didn't early, but then we adjusted and made great strides."
Folz booted a 22-yard field goal with 3:35 left for the final score of the game.
The Jays had six sacks in the game, including back-to-back quarterback takedowns by Nik Williams and Corey Suttle on Battle's first drive of the second half.
Lewis completed 5-of-13 passes for 119 yards and two touchdowns in the first half, but went 5-for-15 for 45 yards and an interception in the second half.
The Spartans also struggled to move the ball on the ground in the final 24 minutes of the game. After gaining 72 yards on 17 attempts in the first half, the Spartans were held to minus-23 yards the rest of the game.
The 49 rushing yards was the fewest the Jays have allowed since holding Hickman to 21 in Week 3.
Jefferson City (3-5) will close out the regular season Friday against Rockhurst (5-3) at home. The Hawklets lost 28-3 against C.B.C. on Friday.
"I'm most excited for our players, they have not lost hope," LePage said. "We've talked about building to Week 10, playing our best game every week."