Coming into the week, Jefferson City coach Damon Wells said he wanted his team to be a more mature bunch.
The Jays gave Wells an emphatic answer to their coach Friday in a 42-7 win against Capital City.
After the offense had two three-and-outs to start the night, it got a momentum-changing play from Rodney Smith. Smith pounced on a muffed punt to give the Jays the ball at the Capital City 24-yard line and gave the Jays new life.
"Turnovers, especially turnovers in the special teams game are a huge deal," Wells said. "And fortunately, we were able to recover that and then capitalize on it."
After that play, the Jays took advantage of that momentum and put the game to bed with five touchdowns over the next seven minutes. The offense sprung to life while the defense continued its dominance.
"We keep getting better and better," Wells said.
The second quarter, a perfect frame for the Jays and a disaster for the Cavaliers, was all that really separated the two sides with the game out of hand at halftime Friday at Adkins Stadium. The Jays pounced on the Cavaliers' adversity while quickly coming back from any adversity they faced themselves.
The game showed growth for the Jays, who were on the wrong end of a similar situation three weeks ago. Down two scores, David Bethune had what looked like a pick-six against Hannibal before the play was called back for a penalty. The score would have turned the game and made it a one-possession game at the half, but instead, the Pirates got three quick scores in the third quarter to put the game to bed.
The Jays scored twice in the fourth to make it a 40-13 loss, but the damage in the third quarter against Hannibal after adversity struck the Jays was too much to overcome.
Three weeks after that loss, the Jays did to the Cavaliers what Hannibal did to them.
After the Jays missed tackles to let Capital City running back Ian Nelson near the red zone in the second half, Ethan Garnett and the rest of the Jays defense would buckle down for fourth-down stops instead of letting those mistakes turn into scores.
When the Jays gave up their only score, a two-play 74-yard drive by the Cavaliers with Phillip Richardson breaking outside for a long run before Cortez Wilder broke multiple tackles for an 11-yard score, Bethune scored four plays later to answer and put the game to bed at halftime with a 35-7 lead.
"The reason we do what we do is high school kids are nowhere near a finished product," Wells said. "And we hope to continue to teach and I don't know if we'll ever become the finished product, but we're gonna chase that."
That two-play drive was all that separated a young and improved defensive unit from a second straight shutout. The Jays defense, part of a young team that has 16 of its 22 starters as sophomores or juniors, has now allowed only seven points in its last two games after giving up 89 in the two games prior.
Along with improved tackling, the team also had fewer penalties this week.
"It was better than last week but there still is significant room for growth," Wells said.
The offense only had one score after the 35-point barrage in the second quarter, but it didn't need any more than that and it was still an impressive outing for a unit that now has more than 40 points in back-to-back games.
"Having talented kids is the most helpful thing," Wells said. "In addition to that, we're just blessed not to have kids talking about the number of carries, number of pass attempts, and number of receptions. I believe we have a group of boys that just want to be successful, and we're going to do whatever we think is necessary to move the football."
Bethune was able to break away with his speed for scores on delayed handoffs from Hayden Wells to break the game open in the second quarter while Kevion Pendelton was strong up the middle for the second-straight week at fullback in place of Will Berendzen. Pendelton had two touchdowns in the second before a 45-yard score late in the fourth gave him three on the night and put Jefferson City up 42-7.
The senior class, lead by Bethune, Pendelton, Seth Brooks, Hayden Wells, and Berendzen, among others, have each been big contributors for the Jays when healthy and have played vital roles in the last couple of weeks as the team has gained some consistency for its first winning streak of the season.
"This group has proven that they're willing to work hard, they're willing to get coached and have tremendous attitudes out on the field and I think that's what it takes to handle adversity," Wells said. "Because adversity is coming, we all know that, so we need to continue to learn and will."
That adversity will come with tougher opponents over the next couple of weeks in the second half of the CMAC season. Jefferson City has taken advantage and looked dominant against the two cellar-dwellers of the CMAC over the past two weeks, and now faces some stiffer competition in the conference.
The Jays (2-3, 2-1 CMAC) could move to 3-1 in conference play with a win over Hickman (2-3, 2-1 CMAC) next Friday at Adkins Stadium. Then, Jefferson City would move toward a matchup with Helias, the leaders in the CMAC with a 4-0 record after a commanding victory against Rock Bridge on Friday in Columbia, before closing conference play with Battle (2-2, 1-1 CMAC). The Jays will need continued growth and maturity to pull those games off against tough opponents.
"We just want to keep on building and keep on growing," Wells said. "We too want this program to be back where it once was, but every team has a one-year lifespan. We hope that this team maximizes what it has to offer."