Jackson football team falls to Summit 38-14 in district showdown

Jackson's resurgent football season came to a crashing end Monday night.

A powerful Rockwood Summit team and too many turnovers did in the Indians.

The Falcons, who made the trip to Jackson from the St. Louis area, scored 31 points off five Jackson turnovers and rolled to a 38-14 victory in the Class 5 District 1 championship game.

"You can't do that against a team like that," Jackson senior wide receiver/cornerback Brannon Wright said. "You have to play perfect, you have to win the turnover battle. We didn't play a good game at all."

Jackson ends its first season under coach Brent Eckley with a 7-3 record after the Indians won only six games combined the previous three years.

Jackson linebacker Trea Forbs reacts to Rockwood Summits 38-7 lead in the fourth quarter of their Class 5 District 1 championship game Monday in Jackson. Rockwood Summit won 38-14. (Laura Simon)

"We played hard, but everything didn't fall into place like we wanted it to," Jackson junior linebacker Trea Forbs said. "But I feel like we started getting back to what Jackson football used to be."

While Jackson is finished for the season, Summit (8-3) advances to Saturday's state quarterfinal round.

"It was a lot of fun," Summit standout senior linebacker Eric Beisel said after the game played on a muddy field due to steady rain throughout the day. "We love mud games. It's just hard-nosed football."

Beisel certainly fits the description of a hard-nosed player and he has plenty of talent to go with it.

The 6-foot-4, 238-pound Beisel, who has verbally committed to play football at Missouri, was playing just his second game since returning from a broken bone in his foot during Week 3. Summit has not lost a game in which Beisel has played.

Jackson’s Brannon Wright tries to break up a touchdown pass to Rockwood Summit’s Luke Hartmann during the first quarter.

"I don't know if he's quite back to where he was, but emotionally it's huge," Summit coach Mike Bellers said about having Beisel back in the lineup.

Jackson dug itself an early hole by losing fumbles on two of its first three possessions, but the Indians were still only behind 14-7 at halftime.

The Indians' first play from scrimmage, after Summit missed a field goal, resulted in a lost fumble as the Falcons recovered at Jackson's 26-yard line.

A 9-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback James Crockett to Luke Hartmann made it 7-0 with 5 minutes, 3 seconds left in the first quarter.

Jackson, after punting on its second possession, had a golden opportunity when a bad punt snap gave the Indians the ball at Summit's 27-yard line late in the opening period.

Jackson quarterback Dante Vandeven runs for a touchdown during the second quarter of the Class 5 District 1 championship game.

The Indians picked up a first down to the 15, but Summit recovered a bad shotgun snap.

"That was critical," Eckley said about Jackson not taking advantage.

Summit capitalized on the turnover by driving 81 yards. Fullback Rudy May's 1-yard plunge early in the second quarter made it 14-0.

Jackson, held to 22 yards on its first four possessions, finally got its offense going.

Sophomore quarterback Dante Vandeven's 41-yard touchdown run down the left sideline made it 14-7 with 5:39 left before halftime.

"We felt pretty good at halftime [only down 14-7] because we didn't play very well the first half," Eckley said.

Jackson had a big chance to tie the contest when the Indians took the opening kickoff of the second half and drove from their 20-yard line to a first down at the Summit 11.

But the next four plays netted only two yards.

Junior defensive back Ty Selsor intercepted a pass on Summit's ensuing possession for the Falcons' lone turnover of the night.

The Indians drove inside Summit's 45-yard line when the game began to slip away.

Brad Wood intercepted a Vandeven pass along the sideline and returned it 65 yards for a touchdown that made it 21-7 with 4:37 left in the third quarter.

Things then snowballed out of control for the Indians.

Summit, after receiving a punt, was backed up at its 8-yard line facing second-and-18.

Crockett's long pass hit Nick Bamvakais in stride and he went untouched to the end zone. The 92-yard TD made it 28-7 with 1:50 remaining in the third quarter.

Vandeven was intercepted on Jackson's next two possessions.

Summit turned those miscues into 10 points on a field goal and touchdown, blowing things wide open at 38-7.

"We talked all season long about if we have more turnovers we're not going to win," Eckley said.

The Falcons scored 24 points in less than seven minutes to turn the contest into a rout.

"It was a great defensive effort," Bellers said. "Our defense bent but didn't break. We were able to create big plays."

Jackson finally scored again, primarily against Summit's reserves, with 6:01 remaining. Vandeven hit Wright with a 3-yard touchdown pass.

The Indians wound up with 411 total yards but about 150 of those came on their final two drives after Summit pulled its starters.

Jackson had been averaging 39 points and had scored 110 points in its previous two games.

"Our defense is solid all around," Beisel said. "We're very experienced and we play well together."

Vandeven completed 26 of 44 passes for 290 yards but was intercepted four times, including on the game's final play.

Vandeven also rushed for 95 yards on 12 carries but Summit shut down Jackson's ground attack other than two Vandeven runs that netted 65 yards.

Summit had 388 yards of offense. Shifty tailback Ian McIntosh, a 5-8, 165-pound senior, rushed for 160 yards on 25 carries as he went over 1,000 yards on the season.

"He does a good job and on a dry field he's even better," Bellers said.

Eckley had no complaints about Jackson's effort Monday or what the Indians accomplished this season.

"Summit is a good, solid team. We competed hard, There was not quit," Eckley said. "It's a good season. The kids have worked hard."

Summit 7 7 14 10 -- 38

Jackson 0 7 0 7 -- 14

First Quarter

S -- Luke Hartmann 9 pass from James Crockett (Ben Tesson kick), 5:03

Second Quarter

S -- Rudy May 1 run (Tesson kick), 9:24

J -- Dante Vandeven 41 run (Adam Brown kick), 5:39

Third Quarter

S -- Brad Wood 65 interception return (Tesson kick), 4:37

S -- Nick Bamvakais 92 pass from Crockett (Tesson kick), 1:50

Fourth Quarter

S -- Tesson 30 FG, 11:55

S -- Ian McIntosh 28 run (Tesson kick), 9:53

J -- Brannon Wright 3 pass from Vandeven (Brown kick), 6:01

S J

First downs 15 19

Rushes-yards 46-221 25-121

Passing yards 167 290

Passes 10-19-1 26-44-4

Punts 3-36 3-48

Fumbles-Lost 0-0 4-2

Penalties-Yards 10-50 2-17

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- Summit, McIntosh 25-160, Crockett 7-39, Eric Beisel 3-17, May 3-8, Cody Vogel 6-11, Matt Seymour 1-1, team 1-minus 15. Jackson, Vandeven 12-95, Colten Proffer 8-9, Garrett Miller 3-14, Wright 1-7, team 1-minus 4.

PASSING -- Summit, Crockett 10-19-1-167. Jackson, Vandeven 26-44-4-290.

RECEIVING -- Summit, Hartmann 4-53, Bamvakais 2-97, Ryan Bickings 2-7, McIntosh 1-10, Adrian Sanders 1-0. Jackson, Skyler Steele 7-75, Wright 7-68, Taylor Henson 5-50, Proffer 5-48, Ty Selsor 1-29, Jordan Jeffers 1-20.