Jackson football team adjusts to Sikeston's surpise tactics to pull away for win

SIKESTON, Mo. -- The Jackson football team spent the week leading up to its road game against Sikeston preparing for a Bulldogs team that ran a spread-type offense.

Instead it faced a double tight, double wing formation on Friday night -- something that the 3-4 Bulldogs hadn't shown yet this season.

The Bulldogs' offense served its purpose of keeping the high-powered Jackson offense off the field for much of the first half but didn't do much else, and once the Indians adjusted they cruised to a 42-0 victory.

"It's definitely a hiccup," senior receiver and linebacker Ben Maudie said, "but the way we came back and fought after was a great total team effort."

The Indians (6-1) forced a fumble on Sikeston's first play and scored on a 15-yard run by senior quarterback Dante Vandeven 48 seconds into the game to take a 7-0 lead.

Jackson recovered Sikeston's second fumble of the game less than a minute later but turned it over on downs at the Bulldogs' 5-yard line with 9:17 left in the first quarter. It was mostly Sikeston's offense on the field from there on out in the half.

"Sometimes you get in that false sense of security," Eckley said. "We got that turnover and scored on the first one, and it's probably my fault for not really challenging the guys at that point. We went right back out on offense after getting another turnover and just kind of relaxed and didn't do anything for the rest of the half, really. I'll take responsibility for that, but our offense has got to stay a little stronger. When we get some early success, we've got to stay with it."

The Bulldogs took over and moved the ball to Jackson's 41 by the end of the quarter.

Jackson's Gabriel Dudley (10) runs for yardage as Sikeston's Christian Crumpecker (45) gives chase Friday at Sikeston Public Schools Stadium. (Chris Pobst photo)

The drive, which lasted about 14 minutes between the end of the first and beginning of the second quarter, got Sikeston to the Jackson 20 but the Bulldogs came up short on fourth-and-7 with 7:01 left in the half.

"It's a really smart game plan if they think they might be out-gunned," Eckley said. "We've got a veteran team and Sikeston's got a younger team, and so it makes perfect sense. We've gone through it before where teams thought they needed to limit possessions and they'd run down the play clock ... but it was a 14-minute drive. No wonder it seemed like we weren't playing any offense because we weren't with a 14-minute drive. ... We don't usually focus on time of possession anyway. We focus on plays. But when we're going three-and-out, and then they go on [that drive]. I don't know how many plays that drive was, but it seemed like it was a week standing over there waiting for that drive to be done."

Sikeston converted four fourth downs during the drive and the Indians were whistled for offsides twice. Bulldogs' quarterback Nathan Hampton only attempted one pass in the first half.

Jackson gained about 15 yards on its next drive before the Indians fumbled a handoff on the second play that the Bulldogs recovered. It was Jackson's only turnover of the night.

Sikeston wasted about two minutes off the clock and Jackson was forced to punt on its next drive.

"Not only did it affect the defense, but it affected the offense because it kept us off the field," Vandeven said. "When we got back out we were cold and couldn't get a sufficient drive. It definitely messed with the offensive side of the ball."

The Indians offense came alive in the final minute of the half. It moved the ball from its own 14 to the 11-yard line on five completions, including a 34-yard reception by senior receiver Xominique Davis that he barely caught before it touched the ground after it deflected off another Jackson player.

Vandeven ran it into the end zone after the clock had run down, but it was called back on a Jackson false start. The Indians had one more shot from the 15 but were stopped short.

Sikeston had no answer for Jackson in the second half. Junior running back Gabriel Dudley escaped down the right sideline for a 47-yard touchdown run 35 seconds into the half. The Indians went for two after a Bulldogs' penalty but the pass fell incomplete and made it 13-0.

Vandeven made it 21-0 with 6:51 remaining in the third with a 1-yard run and then a pass to junior receiver Jacob Starzinger for the 2-point conversion.

Maudie caught a 15-yard touchdown pass to give Jackson a four-touchdown lead with 3:39 remaining in the quarter.

The Indians recovered Sikeston's third fumble of the night 15 seconds later and scored on a 3-yard run by senior running back Ethan Isaksen to go up 35-0 two minutes after that.

Sophomore running back Bryndan Reid scored with 6:24 remaining on a 34-yard run.

"If we don't get in our groove then we do what we did tonight where we have penalties and we have mess-ups and faults (early)," Vandeven said. "But when we do get in our groove it's hard to stop us, and it showed. The O-line blocked great, our receivers got lined up just fine, perfectly, and the running backs scored and ran hard."

The Indians improved to 6-1 with the win. They host Seckman at The Pit on Friday.

"We came back, bounced back, and to put up a score like that after last week it shows [Eckley] that we're not giving up on him," Vandeven said, referring to last week's loss to rival Central. "And we know that we're not giving up on this season."

Jackson 7 0 28 7 -- 42

Sikeston 0 0 0 0 -- 0

First Quarter

J -- Dante Vandeven 15 run (Ty Crowden kick), 11:12

Third Quarter

J -- Gabriel Dudley 47 run (pass incomplete), 11:25

J -- Vandeven 1 run (Vandeven pass to Jacob Starzinger), 6:51

J -- Ben Maudie 15 pass from Vandeven (Crowden kick), 3:39

J -- Ethan Isaksen 3 run (Crowden kick), 1:36

Fourth Quarter

J -- Bryndan Reid 34 run (Crowden kick), 5:50

J S

First downs 15 9

Rushes-yards 24-229 45-98

Passing yards 178 22

Passes 16-21-0 6-11-0

Punts-average 1-59 2-40.5

Fumbles-lost 1-1 3-3

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- Jackson, Dante Vandeven 8-44, Ethan Isaksen 4-31, Gabriel Dudley 3-47, Xominique Davis 3-33, Lashone Dean 2-18, Bryndan Reid 2-40; Sikeston, Victwon Riley 21-25, Earnest Fobbs 15-54, Courtney Hawkins 1-3, Shane Garrett 1-3, Jason Moore 5-15, Donnell Cobb 1-(-2).

PASSING -- Jackson, Vandeven 16-21-178-0; Sikeston, Hampton 6-11-22-0.

RECEIVING -- Jackson, Davis 3-62, Maudie 3-35, Jeremy Elliot 1-1, Dean 1-7, Lucas Helwege 2-19, Isaksen 4-33, Jacob Starzinger 2-21; Sikeston, Fobbs 2-3, Cobb 4-19.