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Tribe tackles 1st district win
Hender- son lost to Kilgore, 31- 16 last week at Kilgore. But enough about Henderson for the moment. There's so much Jacksonville news to talk about. Here are some of the headlines from the Hallsville game: * Senior receiver Kelvin Hall finished with 117 yards and two touchdowns on seven catches, posting his second two-touchdown game of the season. * Jacksonville rediscovered its running game with Chris Hall and Jonathan Brown scoring touchdowns.
* Paxton Lindsey played a nearly flawless game at quarterback, completing 13 of 20 passes for a season-high 172 yards - and of course - two touchdowns. * Jacksonville's defense forced two turnovers and dropped another two interception opportunities, held Hallsville to 169 total yards after the Bobcats drove 82 yards on their first possession. Lindsey, who split time with Kyle Stacy at quarterback, threw touchdown passes of 66 and 16 yards to Kelvin Hall, the latter of which put the Indians ahead for good midway through the third quarter. On the play, Lindsey scrambled to his right, shrugged off one defender, then planted his feet and threw against his body to a wide-open Hall underneath the uprights in the back of the end zone. It was the kind of play only the seniors could have made, with Lindsey keeping his eyes downfield while he scrambled, and Hall actively seeking another place to get open after the play started to break down. It was also the kind of play that made a statement about the Indians' season - no playoffs? No problem. We'll play to win just the same. Running back Jonathan Brown's 27-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter echoed that sentiment. Faced with third-and-1 in Hallsville territory and Jacksonville leading only by 6 after a missed PAT, the Indians brought Brown, their biggest running back into the huddle to try to smash the Bobcats defense for a first down and to keep control of the ball. Brown lowered his head into the line of scrimmage, dragged several defenders for a few yards, then shimmied free and broke away from the pack. A few stunned Hallsville defenders gave chase in vain, but the damage was already done. Brown, who came into the game with just 30 total yards to his credit this season, finished with a team-high 63. Meanwhile, his backfield counterpart Chris Hall, the team's leading rusher, also found the end zone at the tail end of a six-play, 46-yard drive, when he emerged from a crowd near the goal line and scored from 5 yards out. Quarterback Kyle Stacy kept the drive moving with an 18-yard pass to tight end Demarcus Sessions on the play before. So where did all this come from, or where has it been? It's a fair question. Some of it undoubtedly had to do with Hallsville, which is still looking for a district win this season. But as I watched this balanced Indians attack surgically move the ball up and down the field, I wondered about Jacksonville's schedule. Specifically, I wondered if Jacksonville's fate might have been a little different if the Indians had started district play with Hallsville before moving on to Marshall, Whitehouse, Kilgore and Nacogdoches. Confidence plays a big part of any sport, and it has to work in concert with effort. The effort has always been there. But I wonder if the confidence ever got a chance to take root in District 12-4A play as the Jacksonville opponents put up big play after big play - some of them on Indians turnovers. This isn't to take anything away from Jacksonville's opponents, either. They all clearly have talent, and had more experienced players running a system they've carried over from last season. Jacksonville's overwhelming youth this season, combined with several changes to the offensive game plan may have held them back this year. But the old sports axiom about being able to learn more from a loss than a win, and the old life axiom that says experience is the best teacher, may have longer-lasting effects on the team Jacksonville puts on the field next year. I've seen it before with head coach Randy Copeland's teams. One of his first teams at Jacksonville couldn't stay healthy, and a lot of young players got a chance to start as a result. The team that took the field the following season went three games deep into the playoffs. It can happen. And there would be no better way to finish this season of trial and tribulation than to beat Henderson on Friday night, and finish the season on a winning streak.
First Quarter HALLSVILLE -- Tom Lee Hutchinson 2 run (Casey Lidle kick) JACKSONVILLE -- Kelvin Hall 66 pass from Paxton Lindsey (Kyle Stacy kick) Second Quarter JACKSONVILLE -- Chris Hall 5 run (Stacy kick) HALLSVILLE -- Kenneth Smith 50 pass from Hutchinson (Lidle kick) Third Quarter JACKSONVILLE -- Kelvin Hall 16 pass from Lindsey (Stacy kick failed) Fourth Quarter JACKSONVILLE -- Jonathan Brown 27 run (Stacy kick) Hallsville Jacksonville
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING -- Hallsville: A.J. Jones 11-75, Tom Lee Hutchinson 13-21, Chase Hollon 7-15, Josh Schattel 2-0; Jacksonville: Jonathan Brown 7-63, Chris Hall 8-38, Paxton Lindsey 8-15, Clint Copeland 1-5, Frankie Almendarez 1-4, Terrance Canady 1-(minus-1), Courtney White 1-(minus- 1), Kyle Stacy 1-(minus-1), Ryan Diers 2-(minus-2). PASSING -- Hallsville: Hutchinson 9-22-1 140; Jacksonville: Lindsey 13-20-0 172, Stacy 3-5-0 34. RECEIVING -- Hallsville: Brian Jones 2-28, Kenneth Smith 2-86, Jesus Cardenas 2-14, Hollon 1-6, Amaris Ortiz 1-6; Jacksonville: Kelvin Hall 7-117, Demarcus Sessions 4- 67, Courtney White 2-16, Clint Copeland 2-4, Jonathan Brown 1-2. graphic: Cherokeean Herald |
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