JERSEY PANTHERS (1-1)
MATTOON GREENWAVE (0-2)
MATTOON RUNS ALL OVER
JERSEY 50-33
GREENWAVE BACK #32 NOAH PATTERSON
(PHOTO BY MIKE ESTELL FOR THE JG-TC)
(PHOTO COURTESY OF MONICA STUDENT)
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: DREW SAUERWEIN
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK: STEPHEN RULO
SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK: JAMES RANDOLPH
MATTOON -- The Mattoon Green Wave picked up their first win of the season in an offensive shootout with Jerseyville high school Friday night at Gaines Field.
Julian Gittens, Nick Poorman and the rest of the Green Wave offense were simply too much for the Jerseyville defense to handle, putting up 519 total yards in the 50-33 win.
Mattoon outdueled Jerseyville, who put up 533 yards on offense themselves, including 341 rushing, thanks to a performance by a surprise player.
As a player who began the season playing defensive back, Gittens was huge for Mattoon in the backfield, tallying four total touchdowns and accumulating 136 yards rushing on 20 carries.
“We knew that he would run hard. That was the one thing we knew he would do. He’s pretty talented and obviously pretty fast and very physical, hes not afraid of any contact,” Mattoon head coach Troy Johnson said of Gittens' performance. “The effort from him was really nice tonight.”
Gittens wasn’t the lone offensive standout for the Green Wave however, Quarterback Nick Poorman did damage with his arm and his legs. Poorman completed 15-28 passes for 228 yards while rushing for 126 yards and 1 touchdown on 10 carries.
“Obviously it was good,” Johnson said of his quarterback's play. “Nick works hard. He’s a big strong kid and he’s a competitor and wants to win and he’s at a position where every down he touches the ball, so everybody wants to be critical on every down. But I thought he did a great job tonight and improvised on a couple of things that weren’t quite right.”
The game for the Green Wave started off with a bang from Gittens. Gittens received the opening kickoff from Jerseyville at the 33 yard line, and after breaking through a pack of would-be tacklers at midfield, Gittens ran the rest of the way untouched for a touchdown.
After the Gittens touchdown, the Green Wave was unsuccessful in throwing the momentum completely in its favor, as the team was unable to convert an attempted onside kick giving Jerseyville excellent field position to begin its first drive. It appeared as though the Jerseyville drive would be over after just three plays, two three-yard rushes and an incomplete pass. However, while attempting to punt, Mattoon’s Konour Smith ran into the kicker giving the Panthers an automatic first down.
With a new breath of life after the penalty, Jerseyville drove the ball all the way to the ten yard-line and then stalled-out. On fourth down the Panthers attempted to go for it from the ten yard line but were unable to convert.
With the ball back in their hands, Nick Poorman drove his team down the field only to throw an interception into double coverage in the end zone returning the ball back to Jerseyville. The Panthers capitalized on the turnover making the game a 7-7 tie after a 35 yard touchdown pass from Sauerwein to Nate Rohman capping off an 80 yard 2 minute 52 second drive.
Neither team put up much offense in the second quarter. After each putting up a touchdown in the first quarter the two teams spent the latter part of the second quarter exchanging punts, It wasn’t until 8 minutes into the quarter that Mattoon kicker Quinn Camfield would give his team a 10-7 lead, splitting the uprights with a 37 yard field goal.
The ball quickly returned to the hands of the Green Wave after Jerseyville running back Brandon Baalman fumbled on the second play of the drive following the goal. Mattoon led by two big runs by Gittens marched the ball to the 3 yard line where they again called the number of the tailback who punched it in for a 3 yard score making the score 17-7 before the half.
The third quarter was a much different story for the Green Wave. Jerseyville outscored Mattoon 13-6 to make the score 23-20. The Green Wave would open the quarter quickly, Nick Poorman found Michael Smith for a 58 touchdown three minutes into the half, flowing another Jerseyville fumble by Baalman.
Jerseyville quarterback Drew Sauerwein ,who had 127 yards rushing and 3 touchdowns, scored his first of the game on a 7 yard run just minutes after the Smith-Poorman tocuhdown. This pushed the score to 23-13 after a failed two-point conversion.
Sauerwein struck again in the third rushing the ball for a 37 yard touchdown late in the quarter, trimming the Mattoon lead to 3.
Jerseyville would take the lead from Mattoon one minute into the fourth quarter after another touchdown run by Sauerwein, this time for 12 yards. Making the score 27-23.
The Green Wave retook the lead two minute later on another Smith-Poorman touchdown connection going for 31 yards.
Trailing 30-27, Jerseyville once again rushed for a huge touchdown. Sophomore Kurt Hall took the ball 24 yards for a score, giving his team a 33-30 lead.
This however would be the last of the scoring by Jerseyville, as Mattoon, powered by two more Gittens rushing touchdowns and one by Poorman, scored 20 unanswered points, leading to a final score of 50-33.
STORY COURTESY OF J.J. BULLOCK For the JG-TC
No comments:
Post a Comment