Fatal mistakes costly for young Jets in beat down by Bartlett-Yancey

Posted

SILER CITY — Bartlett Yancey converted three first-period Jordan-Matthews turnovers into touchdowns while opening up a 32-0 lead after one quarter en route to demolishing the Jets 57-12 in the non-conference season-opener for both teams Saturday night at Phil E. Senter Stadium.

Defeating J-M for only the second time in nine meetings, the Buccaneers tallied the most points ever recorded by either team in a series that began in 2009.

Bartlett Yancey quarterback Chase Johnson completed nine-of-17 passes for 133 yards and three touchdowns besides rushing for a pair of scores, while Michael Slade rambled for 124 yards on 11 carries, including scoring jaunts of 42 and 47 yards, as the Buccaneers outgained Jordan-Matthews 370-141 in total yardage.

Jets’ quarterback Xavier Woods rushed for a team-high 58 yards on 17 totes and registered both J-M touchdowns on runs of 22 and 36 yards.

“I thought ball security and conditioning were our strong points tonight, as we only carry 30 players on the varsity squad,” said Bartlett Yancey coach Joshua Brumfield following the outcome.

“We avoided a lot of penalties while getting a good effort on both sides of the ball, and Chase Johnson is a three-year starter who showed great leadership on the field this evening.”

First-year Jordan-Matthews coach Sam Spencer stated fumbling the ball away on his team’s initial play from scrimmage set the tone for the night.

“Early turnovers doomed us,” noted Spencer. “Bartlett Yancey is big, strong and physical up front, and we gave them too many opportunities to score in the first quarter while we didn’t do a good job wrapping up their ball carriers.”

“We struggled with shotgun snaps early in the game before freshman center Ethan Clark came in and performed extremely well at his position, while we changed some of our blocking schemes at halftime which allowed us to do a better job getting to the edge after intermission.”

The Jets elected to receive the opening kickoff, but on their first play from scrimmage Buccaneers’ linebacker Triston Winn recovered a Jaquez Thompson bobble at the J-M 35.

Johnson proceeded to direct a three-play scoring drive capped by his 10-yard touchdown toss to wide receiver Miles Jefferson to put Bartlett Yancey ahead 6-0 only one minute and nine seconds into the contest.

Three plays into Jordan-Matthews’ next possession, Buccaneers’ linebacker Dylan Wall pounced on a Woods fumble at the Jets’ 37 to set in motion a four-play scoring march culminating in Johnson’s one-yard sneak behind center to increase Bartlett Yancey’s advantage to 12-0 with 9:03 left in the opening period.

Holding J-M to a three-and-out series on Jordan-Matthews’ next possession, the Buccaneers went 60 yards in two plays to boost their lead to 18-0 when Slade broke several tackles on a 42-yard touchdown scamper up the middle with 6:51 remaining in the initial stanza.

Three plays into the Jets’ ensuing series Bartlett Yancey defensive lineman Justin Mitil gathered in a Woods bobble at the J-M 30, and six snaps later Johnson ran a five-yard bootleg to the left side of the end zone before Jacob Scales pounded up the middle for a two-point conversion that gave the Buccaneers a 26-0 advantage with 2:57 to go in the first quarter.

Regaining possession of the pigskin at the Jordan-Matthews’ 45 following a failed fourth-down gamble by the Jets a minute-and-a-half later, Bartlett Yancey launched a four-play scoring drive aided by a pair of J-M penalties to go up 32-0 when Quinton Noble scooted wide left the final four yards with 43.1 seconds left in the period.

Starting from their own 48 following a Jordan-Matthews’ punt with 8:30 remaining in the second quarter, the Buccaneers traveled 52 yards in 10 plays to elevate their lead to 38-0 when Johnson climaxed the march with a nine-yard scoring pass to Scales with 4:41 to go until intermission.

After regaining possession of the ball at its own 40 following a Jets’ punt with 2:02 to go until halftime, Bartlett Yancey struck again on the next play from scrimmage when Johnson found Devon Lipscomb a step ahead of his defender at the J-M 30 and connected on a 60-yard scoring bomb with 1:43 showing on the clock to send the Buccaneers into the break with a 44-0 advantage.

Noble’s 44-yard punt return to the Jordan-Matthews’ 16 with just over eight minutes left in the third stanza set up a four-play scoring drive ending with Johnson’s three-yard TD strike to wide receiver Isiah Torvik that stretched Bartlett Yancey’s lead to 51-0 at the 5:30 mark of the third period.

Following Thompson’s 17-yard return of the ensuing kickoff that gave the Jets possession at their own 36, J-M mounted its first sustained march of the night, capping off a six-play, 64-yard drive with Woods sprinting wide right the last 22 yards to pay dirt on the initial play of the fourth quarter, closing the gap to 51-6.

But one play after the Buccaneers recovered a Jordan-Matthews onside kick at the Jets’ 47, Slade burst up the middle the distance to the goal line, raising Bartlett Yancey’s advantage to 57-6 with eight-and-a-half minutes left in the contest.

The Jets then answered by marching 69 yards in five plays to finish out the scoring, with Woods angling wide left the last 36 yards to the end zone with two-and-a-half minutes remaining to account for the final margin.