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The Johnson County Trojans
defeated Jenkins County 35-27 in a game that was much closer than most
people expected. Trojan penalties (eight in the 1st half), poor field
position (average start was the Trojan 15) and an untimely turnover kept the
game close in the 1st half. Cramps and a couple of defensive
breakdowns kept Jenkins County around in the second half.
The Trojans took the opening
kickoff. Jenkins County's strong legged kicker booted it into the
endzone so the Trojans would start at the 20. Thirteen plays later the
Trojans would get the opening score. Zack Walker caught a one yard
pass from D.J. Rozier. Alex Allen kicked the extra point and JOCO led
7-0. The big play on the drive was a 37 yard catch by Shamarko Brown
on 4th down. After stopping the Eagles on their first possession JOCO
would get the ball back. A 50 yard kick by the Jenkins punter would
die at the Trojan one. JOCO would not be in that hole for long,
however. On the first play D. J. Rozier hit Zack Walker for a 69 yard
reception. Seven plays later D. J. Rozier would run in from one yard
out for the touchdown. Allen would kick the extra point to make the
score 14-0. After another defensive stop JOCO would get the ball at
their own 21. However, a fumble on the second play would set the
Eagles up at the JOCO 21. The Trojans defense would stop them
again...this time on the four. Unable to move out of this hole the
Trojans would punt for the only time of the game. Jenkins County went
the forty yards in three plays...the final play was a 31 yard pass.
After the extra point the score was 14-7. The Trojans would get their
best field position of the half to start the next drive. Starting at
their own 31 JOCO went the 69 yards in nine plays. The biggest plays
on the drive were a 26 yard run by Larry Taylor and a 16 yard reception by
Zack Walker down to the one...the second time in the half that Zack was
tackled on the one. D. J. Rozier was the beneficiary again, getting a
one yard touchdown run. This time the extra point was just a little
right and JOCO led 20-7 at the half.
Jenkins County took the second half kickoff and put
together a nice drive. The Eagles went 65 yards on 10 plays (nine on
the ground) to cut the Trojans lead to 20-14. With D. J. Rozier on the
sideline with cramps freshman Keemo Burton ran the show in the 3rd quarter.
The Trojans, starting at the 42, moved the ball down to the Jenkins 25 by
the end of the quarter. Larry Taylor did most of the work, running the
ball seven times. It was 3rd down and 10 to start the 4th
quarter...and the return of D. J. Rozier. On his first play back in
the game Rozier hit Shamarko Brown in the end zone for a 25 yard touchdown.
This was the second great catch that Brown made in the game. After
Larry Taylor ran in the conversion the score was 28-14. It would not
take Jenkins County long to strike back. After getting good field
position on the kickoff the Eagles would take advantage of an aggressive
Trojan defense. Jenkins hit a screen pass on 3rd and 10 and the
running back took it the distance (54 yards) for the touchdown. The
extra point was good and with 10:08 left in the game the Trojans lead was
only 28-21. As they have done so often this year, the Trojans put
together a nice time consuming drive to essentially win the game. JOCO
went 65 yards in 12 plays (10 on the ground) and took 7:27 off the clock.
D. J. hit Zack Walker from 13 yards out for the touchdown. The Allen
extra point made the score 35-21. Jenkins County tacked on a score
with 29 seconds remaining to make the final 35-27.
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