Bucs secure 34-8 win over Rockets
Kelly Tunney | 缅北禁地
Kelly Tunney | 缅北禁地 Jefferson-Morgan鈥檚 Joe Headlee falls into the end zone for the Rockets鈥� only touchdown of the game Friday night against visiting Chartiers-Houston.
Kelly Tunney | 缅北禁地
Jefferson-Morgan鈥檚 Colten Davidson helps pick some turf out of Buccaneer Spencer Terling鈥檚 mask after Terling went face first into the field during Chartiers-Houston鈥檚 34-8 non-conference road win in Jefferson.
Kelly Tunney | 缅北禁地
Jefferson-Morgan鈥檚 Eli Rafail walks into the end zone for a two-point conversion against Chartiers-Houston Buccaneers Friday night in Jefferson.
Jefferson-Morgan's Colten Davidson (27) looks to get past Chartiers-Houston's Tyler Blumen during Friday night's non-conference game in Jefferson.
The Jefferson-Morgan Rockets run onto Parker Field Friday evening for their season-opening game against the visiting Chartiers-Houson Buccaneers.
JEFFERSON 鈥� Chartiers-Houston raced out to a quick 14-0 lead last Friday night, but Jefferson-Morgan drove down the field to the opposing 16-yard line. Senior quarterback Eli Rafail lined up under center with two wide receivers and only one Buccaneer defender to his left.
Rafail hurriedly tossed the ball to the left, but the pass unfortunately went right between both Rocket wide receivers and landed in the hands of C-H senior defensive back Cody Scears.
The Rockets had more turnovers the rest of the half, two, than first downs, one, while Chartiers-Houston, a Class AA program, outscored Class A Jefferson-Morgan 20-0 the rest of the first half en route to a 34-8 win in the inaugural Week Zero non-conference match-up.
鈥淚 felt we were ready to play with just one week, and we do a lot over the summer and I think the kids were ready to play,鈥� Chartiers-Houston head coach Terry Fetsko said. 鈥淭hey came out and proved it tonight, and I鈥檓 really proud of how we executed.鈥�
The Bucs scored on their fourth play from scrimmage when senior quarterback T.J. Johnston hit senior wide receiver A.J. Myers in stride for a 45-yard touchdown.
Conversely, the Rockets turned the ball over on its first offensive play when Rafail鈥檚 pass fluttered short of his intended receiver and was picked off by senior Jordan Davis.
Chartiers-Houston then drove 60 yards downfield, capped off by a Spencer Terling 6-yard run.
After the second Rafail interception, Jefferson-Morgan did prevent the Bucs from scoring, but a Scears鈥� punt pinned the Rockets at their own 3-yard line.
On the second play of the drive, a Jefferson-Morgan ball carrier fumbled, giving the Bucs a prime opportunity to score.
鈥淲e had four turnovers in the first half. Once again, I feel like I鈥檝e been saying this year after year, any time you have lots of turnovers things don鈥檛 turn out very well,鈥� J-M head coach Aaron Giorgi said. 鈥淵ou have to protect the football, and we did not do that tonight.鈥�
Chartiers-Houston increased its lead to 21-0 on a 6-yard pass from Johnston to the Buccaneers鈥� senior running back, Terling, who rushed for 105 yards on 18 carries as well.
On J-M鈥檚 next possession, the Rockets were forced to punt, which was muffed and recovered by the Rockets, if not for an illegal formation penalty. J-M was forced to re-punt, and Myers made the Rockets pay, taking the punt 45 yards to the J-M 20-yard line.
Five plays later, Johnston executed a 2-yard QB sneak to put the Bucs ahead by 28 points.
Myers picked off a pass on the second play of Jefferson-Morgan鈥檚 next drive, returning it 68 yards to the J-M 10-yard line. Myers also caught four balls for 106 yards and a touchdown.
鈥淗e is, you know, one of those special players that you like to have on your team, and fortunately we do have one of these players,鈥� Fetsko said. 鈥淗e can make plays offensively, defensively and special teams, and he did all three tonight for us, and we need him to continue to do that for us to be successful.鈥�
Johnston passed for his third touchdown of the half with under a minute left in the half, this time to senior tight end Jacob Cavallo for seven yards. Chartiers-Houston went into the locker room with a 34-0 lead.
The senior quarterback would end the day completing seven of 14 pass attempts for 126 yards and three touchdowns through the air and one on the ground.
鈥淭.J. [Johnston] played very well tonight,鈥� Fetsko said. 鈥淗e was sharp; he commanded the offense very well, and we do have some play makers on offense, and as long as the line gives us time and opens holes, we鈥檙e very capable at the skill positions.鈥�
Despite playing the entire third quarter with its starters still in the game, the Buccaneers were not able to get much going on offense.
After Fetsko put in his subs in the fourth quarter, the Rockets got on the board for their only score of the day. Senior running back Joe Headlee broke free for a 45-yard run on the first play of the drive, followed up by a 10-yard touchdown run on the next play.
Despite the loss, Giorgi does not regret making the Week Zero game an official game instead of a scrimmage, as the team only had a week to prepare for the beginning of the season.
鈥淭onight was a learning experience,鈥� Giorgi said. 鈥淚 mean I hate losing, they hate losing and we don鈥檛 want to lose, but we have to take a positive out of this and say we learned something about ourselves moving forward.鈥�
The Bucs will host Jeannette next week, while Jefferson-Morgan welcomes Springdale. Both games are set for 7 p.m.