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The Johnson County Trojans
defeated their archrival, the E. C. I. Bulldogs, 31-24 in two overtimes.
This was the Trojans first victory over E. C. I. since 2005.
Hopefully, this is the first in a string of victories over the Bulldogs.
This game was as close as the score indicates and was probably the best game
at home since the field was renamed in honor of Trojan great Herschel
Walker.
Most people familiar with the two
teams expected a shootout but the game started out slow. In fact with
2.3 seconds remaining in the half the score was still 0-0. That's when E. C.
I. sophomore, Caleb Pressey kicked a 43 yard field goal to give E. C. I. a
3-0 halftime lead. The E. C. I. drive had started at their own 15 with
7:05 on the clock. The Trojans had a scoring opportunity in the second
quarter as well. The Trojans started at their own 11 and marched down
to the E. C. I. 16 before stalling. The halftime stats showed E. C. I.
with 116 yards of total offense compared to 97 yards for the Trojans.
The action started picking up in the third quarter.
E. C. I. ran the kickoff down to the Johnson 38 and then, using seven
consecutive runs, pushed the ball across the goal line for a 10-0 lead.
JOCO would answer just 4 minutes later. D. J. Rozier hit Zack Walker
with a 34 yard pass down to the E. C. I. 27. Four plays later on 4th
and 16 Rozier hit Walker across the middle...Walker made a couple of moves
and ran into the end zone to give JOCO their first score. Alex Allen
booted the first of four extra points to cut the Bulldog lead to three.
The Trojans would take their first lead of the game early in the fourth
quarter. JOCO started at their own 18 and, with passes from Rozier to
Walker accounting for 79 of the 82 yards, scored with 10:53 remaining in the
game to take a 14-10 lead. Just over four minutes later E. C. I.
regained the lead on a 4 yard run by Darion Moody. JOCO got a 41 yard
kickoff return from Kelvin Rozier to set up the tying score. JOCO
moved the ball to the five but had to settle for an Alex Allen 20 yard field
to tie the game at 17-17 with 2:41 remaining. E. C. I. wasn't through,
however. They marched down to the Trojans 17 where they attempted a
field goal with just over 10 seconds remaining in the game. Obviously,
the field goal was no good.
We now have overtime at Herschel Walker Field. In
overtime each team gets the ball at the opponents 15 yard line. E. C.
I. was up first. The Bulldogs got a huge fourth down conversion and
later scored to take a 24-17 lead. The Trojans went to Zack Walker
twice...first pass was incomplete, second pass was a touchdown. The
score was tied 24-24. This time JOCO went first. The Trojans
went to Zack Walker twice...first pass was incomplete, second pass was
a touchdown. JOCO led 31-24. This time when E. C. I. had fourth
down the Trojans defense stopped them cold and came away with the victory.
The entire Trojans team played their hearts out to
earn this victory. Statwise the Trojans were once again led by D. J.
Rozier and Zack Walker. Rozier passed for 215 yards with 203 of those
going to Walker. D. J. also had 22 tackles. However, it was not
just the two of them. The defense, especially, played well. They
may have given up 239 yards on the ground but they made E. C. I. earn every
one of them. E. C. I. only had four runs of 10 yards or longer and the
longest was 12 yards. Keeping them from breaking a long run was
probably the key to victory. And hats off to Alex Allen. Allen
was true on all four extra points and kicked a field goal. Alex is now
22-25 on extra points this season. The Trojans must now avoid a
letdown as Jenkins County comes to town. We have had excellent crowds
at all three home games so far. Let's continue that trend on Friday
night. GO TROJANS!!! |
