SHS blows out Bluejays

Sunday, September 7, 2008
Sikeston running back Rico Ivy runs past Charleston's Mackenzie Ivy Friday night at Sikeston Public Schools Stadium. The Sikeston junior carried the ball four times for 17 yards. (Josh Mills, Staff)

SIKESTON -- The Sikeston Bulldogs notched their 85th victory over the Charleston Bluejays on Friday night by a commanding score of 48-6. The win puts the Bulldogs at 1-1 on the season while the Bluejays fall to 0-2.

"The effort was good," said Sikeston head coach Kent Gibbs following the win. "We played with some intensity. It's a big win."

The packed stands provided a great atmosphere for both teams as the play on the field in the first quarter showed. Sikeston jumped out first as Eli Jackson broke through for a 58-yard run and chipped in an extra point kick as well.

Sikeston's Niquavious Dixon reaches up to make a on-handed catch of a pass in the first half of Friday's game. Looking on is Charleston's Claude Armstrong. Sikeston won the game 48-6, to even their record at 1-1 on the season.

Charleston followed with one-yard run later in the quarter as Claude Armstrong rumbled in for the score. The Bluejays would miss the two-point conversion and after one quarter of play the score stood 7-6 in favor of the home team.

The rest of the ballgame was all red and black as the Bulldogs took over any hint of momentum and pounded out over 400 yards of offense. Sikeston was already on top as the clock winded down in the second quarter, but with 2:08 remaining on the clock they managed to score three times to push their lead to 35-6 at the half. The final score came after the Bulldogs managed to pull in an onside kick that wasn't an actual drawn up play. As the home team maintained possession, quarterback Charlie Bohannon made the most of it as he connected with Jordan Williams as time expired, down the sideline and into the endzone for a 41-yard touchdown pass. Jackson capped it off with a two-point conversion run and the Bulldogs rolled into the locker room with the huge lead.

"The score right before the half was huge," said Gibbs of the 41-yard TD pass. "Charlie (Bohannon) made a great play getting loose and Jordan (Williams) made a great catch. Getting that in before the half really helped."

"I told them at halftime that they should never give up on a play," he added. "He (Bohannon) made one right there before half and that gives us confidence knowing that we can make plays if we don't give up on them. It just kind of set the tone for the rest of the game."

The second half was almost a duplicated performance of the first half for the Bulldogs as they added two more scores, one on a 16-yard pass to Williams again from Bohannon, and one from Darryl Howard from 10 yards out on the ground.

Charleston head coach Dan Kesselring said that he thought his squad had a chance after the first quarter, but said that the Bulldogs proved to be too much in the end.

"There in the middle of the first quarter I think we finally settled down and I thought we were going to be able to stay in the ballgame," said Kesselring. "Then, a couple of deep passes got thrown and we're pretty inexperienced in the backfield. I thought Sikeston utilized their throwing game and caught us off guard. Their tailback (Jackson) had an excellent night running the ball and we just couldn't stop him. Overall, I thought our kids never stopped playing, we've just got to get more experienced and we'll be better off on down the road."

Sikeston's Niquavious Dixon looks for running room as Charleston's Mackenzie Ivy (5) looks on. Dixon caught three passes for 36 yards. (Josh Mills, Staff)

Bohannon's aerial attack included a 12-for-19 performance with 161 passing yards and two touchdowns. Williams caught the two TD passes as he finished the night with 57 yards on two catches, both for scores.

On the ground, Jackson provided the bulk load of the 328 yards as he carried the ball 14 times for 221 yards and four touchdowns.

"I was real pleased with the way we blocked and our intensity on defense," said Gibbs. "Eli (Jackson) had a good game but he'll tell you that we had some blocking up there for him. We got off the ball and did the things that we needed to do."

For the Bluejays, offense was hard to come by as they came up with just 107 total yards of offense on 45 plays. Quarterback Chase McClendon was 1-for-3 with zero yards and zero interceptions.

Jerquawn Sherrell ran the ball nine times for 35 yards while Armstrong provided the only score on eight carries for 21 yards.

Charleston will host Portageville on Friday evening while Sikeston will remain at home and welcome in the Dexter Bearcats. Both contests will begin at 7 p.m.

Respond to this story

Posting a comment requires free registration: