It was Homecoming in more ways than one at The Reservation on Friday night, as former Stephens County coach Travis Noland and his #1-ranked Dragons (4-0) paid a visit and left with a 42-14 victory. The game wasn’t without drama, as the Indians (2-2) rallied from down 28-0 to cut the deficit in half and had a chance to make it a one-possession game.
Jefferson started and ended strong, with the third quarter belonging to the home team. The Indians forced a punt to open the game, and had apparent momentum when Branson Stowe hooked up with Davon Swinton to get near the red zone. Moments later, though, Chance Payne picked off a pass and took it down to the 11-yard line. From there, Griffin Drake ran it in on the next play for the game’s first score.
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On the next Dragons drive, Max Brown reeled off a 42-yard run. But on third and long, Colton Grant tried a tight window but was intercepted by Zoonk Patterson.
It was still a low-scoring game at 7-0 until midway through the second. Jefferson nickeled and dimed its way down the field until Brown scored on a 10-yard TD to push it up to 14-0. Less than a minute later, he sprinted away on a 70-yd TD. Before the break, Grant had an 8-yard TD run as well to send us to the half with a 28-0 blowout.
Whatever coach Thomas Flowers told Stephens County in the locker room, it was a different look for the Indians. Their opening drive went the distance and chewed up a lot of time, ending with a Morris Perkins 2-yd plunge into the end zone.
Patterson recorded another interception off Grant, and a trick play resulted in a Swinton 22-yd TD pass to a wide open Ahmad Ivey. All of a sudden it was a 28-14 game, and got even more interesting when Brown’s next carry was fumbled, and recovered by Stephens County’s Ashton Winters at the 20-yard line.
The pendulum again swung quickly, as the Dragons’ Dylan Berardinelli intercepted Stowe. He took it 76 yards back inside the five. Grant converted a third and two for the 2-yard TD, making it a 35-14 Jefferson lead. Jefferson didn’t let up, as #16 picked off the next pass from Stowe, and the Dragons took that momentum into the fourth. Eli Primm added a 1-yd visit to the end zone.
The Dragons got two TDs each from Brown and Grant, and Stephens County’s 14-point output is more than the previous three games combined against Jefferson.
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