Jackson drops its second straight home game

~ The Indians lost 27-3 and dropped to 0-2

Parkway South victimized the Jackson defense with three big plays.

The Patriots used two runs and a pass to gain over half of their offensive yards in their 27-3 victory Friday night.

"The long runs, that's what killed us," Jackson coach Van Hitt said. "It shows up with the inexperience we have with some of the people we have on defense who haven't played before. When you have a role to play on defense, you have to take that role. You can't jump in and try to help the guy next to you on the fake. You jump on the fake and here comes the ball."

The first monster gainer resulted from some trickery. Parkway South quarterback Eric Laurent took off running and was about to get drilled by a defender when he pitched to teammate Lawrence Scott, who was wide open. Scott blew past the defense for a 66-yard touchdown in the second quarter to open the scoring.

The second big play resulted from speed. Gerard Graves took off running and barely was taken down before reaching the end zone on a 57-yard gain in the third quarter. Scott scored on a 1-yard run on the next play to push the Patriots' lead to 20-3.

Parkway South (1-1) sealed it when Laurent hit John Barnabee with a short pass. It looked like Jackson's defense bottled up Barnabee along the sideline, but he kept his balance and streaked 72 yards for the score.

"The offensive line was working real hard," Laurent said. "That's basically what our team is. If our offensive line works hard, our backfield will do its job."

Hitt said that while Parkway South used a heavy dose of the run last week, he wasn't surprised that the Patriots came out passing to open the game. They completed four passes on their opening drive.

"The quarterback had a real good, strong arm and the receivers were real quick," Hitt said. "They caught the ball well. We knew that. Our goal was keep them in front of us, make tackles and go from there."

Parkway South's three big plays accounted for 195 of the team's 357 yards on offense.

"They really played me well," Jackson defensive end Henrie Williams said. "I couldn't get anything going. They would fake one side and go the other way. They had a really good scheme."

While the Patriots found success with the big play, Jackson's offense struggled to gain yards. The Indians (0-2) moved the ball well on their first possession by ramming the ball at the heart of the Patriots' defense. Ethan Ruch ran the ball on five consecutive carries to open the game. He gained 22 yards on seven runs as the Indians moved the ball to the Patriots' 15-yard line. But quarterback Bobby Clark's first pass was deflected and intercepted at the 3-yard line.

"They were in press man most of the time," Clark said. "It was pretty hard to get off them."

Jackson's Ryan Marble returned the favor by picking off Laurent to end Parkway South's first drive. But the Indians never could get the offense rolling again. The deepest they got was Parkway South's 20-yard line. But like last week, a miscue smothered the drive. A bad snap to Cole Rodgers, who was at quarterback for the play, resulted in a 14-yard loss and third-and-4 turned into fourth-and-18.

Jackson senior kicker Morgan Johnson bailed out his teammates by drilling a 47-yard field goal.

Jackson's offense finished with 117 yards a week after being held to 134 yards. The Indians are using a new offense this year and Hitt said it will get better as the season progresses.

"It's fine," he said. "The thing we have to get is our passing game going, get some people out of the box up there, then we'll be able to run the ball more effectively. That's the whole secret."

Clark said more practice time is the key to making the offense successful.

"We have bright spots but then we have spots where we break down," he said. "I think if we stick with it, we keep working hard, guys get better at practice, we'll be all right."

Parkway South 0 13 14 0 -- 27

Jackson 0 0 3 0 -- 3

Second Quarter

PS -- Lawrence Scott 66 run (Nathan Kellerman kick), 6:44

PS -- John Barnabee 1 run (pass failed), 5:20

Third Quarter

J -- Morgan Johnson 47 FG, 4:41

PS -- Scott 1 run (Kellerman kick), 4:41

PS -- Barnabee 72 pass from Eric Laurent (Kellerman kick), 2:47

PS J

First downs 10 10

Rushes-yards 32-193 42-112

Passing yards 164 5

Passes 11-15-1 4-11-2

Fumbles-Lost 2-0 3-1

Penalties-Yards 11-99 2-15

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- Parkway South, Lawrence Scott 12-87, Eric Laurent 4-11, Zach Greco 2-2, Deon Hollins 2-5, John Barnabee 1-1, Gerard Graves 5-74, Trey Butler 4-5, Shaylor Taetz 2-8. Jackson, Ethan Ruch 13-41, Cole Rodgers 7-30, Ryan Marble 4-8, Jerrett Schwab 8-13, Bobby Clark 3-(minus 6), Team 1-(minus 13), Levi Rutherford 6-39.

PASSING -- Parkway South, Eric Laurent 11-15-164-1. Jackson, Bobby Clark 4-11-5-2.

RECEIVING -- Parkway South, Alphonso Scott 2-8, Keyon Davis 3-23, John Barnabee 6-133. Jackson, Tommy Selsor 1-(minus 3), Eli Gohn 1-2, Skyler Kempf 1-2, Levi Rutherford 1-4.