Jackets roll over LC-M, 37-7
By DAUCY CRIZER
Port!Arthur News Special Correspondent
LITTLE CYPRESS - Thomas Jefferson used the age-old recipe of a potent running attack and a stingy, opportunistic defense to sting Little Cypress-Mauriceville 37-7 in District 20-4A action Friday night.
Led by sophomore James Johnson, the Yellow Jackets racked up 280 yards on the ground. Johnson turned in his second straight 200-yard, two touchdown effort. He rushed for 211 yards on 25 carries and had scoring runs of 48 and 9 yards.
"I was really pleased with the effort of the team tonight," said assistant head coach Al Celaya. "However, I felt like we made too many mistakes.
"The overall performance was good, but we didn't score in the red zone like we should and had too many penalties. We have to eliminate the mistakes and take advantage of our opportunities."
For the second consecutive game, senior Tony Tompkins ran the offense. Tompkins was inserted at quarterback in part due to an injury to Terrance Gage and to inject a spark into the TJ offense.
The move has paid off for the Yellow Jackets. Tompkins completed 7-of-10 passes for 130 yards and a touchdown and tallied 38 yards and a touchdown on the ground. More importantly, TJ has won two straight to improve its record to 6-2 overall and 2-1 in district.
"Playing Tony at quarterback was something we wanted to take a look at to help increase our offensive production," commented Celaya. "Tony is just a great athlete. He can do anything on the field and is just a special kid."
Not to be overshadowed by the offense, the Yellow Jacket defense held the Bears to 213 yards of offense and forced four turnovers which led to 17 points. If not for a successful Hail Mary pass on the final play before halftime, TJ would have shut out LC-M.
"We set that (shut out) as a goal for the game," said Celaya on the defensive effort of the Yellow Jackets. "We wanted to have our best defensive effort of the season tonight.
"Defense has always been easier for us. We have some fine athletes on that side of the ball. They are big, strong and fast, and they make plays. I feel our defensive front four moves better than most and may be the best in district."
Although the outcome against the Bears looks pretty impressive, coach Celaya knows his team will have to play better against unbeaten and district-leading West Orange-Stark next Friday.
"Our kids believe they are a pretty good team, but they have to understand we're far from a district championship team," said Celaya. "We have tried to raise our level of play each week and we will have to raise it to another level to be successful next week.
"West Orange-Stark is a very good team and we're going to have to play extremely well. We will have to play better than we did tonight."
The Yellow Jackets didn't waste any time against LC-M, scoring on their first three possessions of the game to jump out to a 21-0 first quarter lead. They were never seriously threatened the rest of the game.
An interception by Ronald Hayes on the Bears first possession set up the Yellow Jackets first score. Tompkins connected with Wayman Harrison for 15 yards to put the ball at the Bears 3. Tompkins called his own number on the option on the next play to put the first points on the board.
Johnson scored the first of his two touchdowns on TJ's next possession. What looked to be a disastrous play turned into a 48-yard scoring run. Tompkins fumbled the snap and emerged from the pile with the ball and pitched it to Johnson, who took it around left end for the score.
A Gabriel Ruff interception set up the Yellow Jackets third TD of the quarter, which again was capped by Johnson, this time on a 9-yard scamper.
TJ's only points of the second quarter came on a 24-yard field goal by Brian Morgan, the first of three in the game for the senior. He also connected from 26 and 44 yards in the third quarter.
LC-M's (2-6, 0-3) lone touchdown came on the final play of the second quarter. Quarterback Derrick Humberson hit Chad Smith in the end zone for a 42-yard scoring strike to cut TJ's lead to 24-7 at halftime.
In addition to Morgan's two third quarter field goals, Tompkins connected
with senior tight end Kevin Everett on a 50-yard pass play early in the fourth
quarter to close out the scoring.
| PA Jefferson | LC-M | |
| First downs | 16 | 8 |
| Rushes-yards | 44-273 | 29-160 |
| Comp-Att-Int. | 7-10-1 | 4-12-3 |
| Passing yards | 130 | 65 |
| Punts-avg. | 0-0 | 2-43.5 |
| Fumbles-lost | 3-0 | 4-1 |
| Penalties-yards | 9-74 | 6-35 |
| PA Jefferson (6-2, 2-1) | 21 | 3 | 6 | 7 | -- | 37 | |
| LC-M(2-6, 0-3) | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | -- | 7 |
PA --Tony Tompkins 3 run (Brian Morgan kick) 9:30, 1st
PA--James Johnson 48 run (Morgan kick) 4:11, 1st
PA--Johnson 9 run (Morgan kick) 2:15, 1st
LC--FG Morgan 24, 1:20, 2nd
LC--Chad Smith 42 pass from Derrick Humberson (Daniel Pelfrey kick) 0:00, 2nd
PA--FG Morgan 26, 7:20, 3rd
PA--FG Morgan 44, 4:23, 3rd
PA--Kevin Everett 50 pass from Tompkins (Morgan kick) 9:04, 4th
Leading rushers PA--Johnson 25-211, 2 TD. LC--Justin Sibley 16-66.
Leading passers PA--Tompkins 7-10-1, 130 yards, 1 TD. LC--Humberson 4-11-3, 65 yards, 1 TD.
Leading receivers PA--Wayman Harrison 4-82. LC--Chad Smith 1-42, 1 TD.
