The Huddle: Coach Demetris Royal's local football highlights - Ring, ring, the Yellow Jacket defense answered the call
On September the 6th, the 1-1 Lexington Yellow Jackets traveled an hour away to take on the 1-0 Rowdy Rebel Bulls of South Stanly. Kick off started at 7:30pm with the Jackets looking to get their second win of the week after defeating the Carver Yellow Jackets 39-14 on Labor Day.
South Stanly seemed to play it safe with a short kick off that ended up being fair catched at the 40 by Lexington to start the game.
The Yellow Jacket’s first play was a run from Qwazir Craven who ended up with a first down. Jaylen Henderson scrambles on a third down a few plays later to get the Jackets a first down and keep the Jackets alive. A few plays later, the Jackets, on a fourth down in the drive, found senior running back Qwazir Craven running for another first down. Faced with back against the wall, senior Rahzel Ewart comes up with a big first down catch. Jaylen Henderson found Junior Collin Weeks for a first down catch to keep the chains moving in the first drive for Lexington. Senior Rahzel Ewart moved to running back and got the Jackets a first down in the red zone. Jaylen Henderson had a touchdown run that was brought back due to a holding call on the Jackets. The Jackets went to the air that South Stanly took advantage of and came up with an interception in the red zone with 8 minutes left in the first quarter.
South Stanly's first drive started on the 20 from the touchback on the previous interception. South Stanly had a big third down conversion that ended up being called back due to a holding penalty, forcing them to punt on the next play.
Lexington started their next drive in the closing moments of the first quarter and ended up electing to run the time out to start the quarter with a refreshed offense and a score of 0-0. Early in the drive Lexington throws an interception. The interception would have South Stanly starting at the 40 yard line. The costly interception would end up in South Stanly scoring on a pass play but not converting on a 2 point conversion leaving the game at 6-0 with 9:00 mins left in the 2nd quarter.
Following kickoff ended up being a fumble on the catch by Lexington in which South Stanly ended up recovering and starting in good field position in jacket territory. South Stanly converted on a huge 3rd down making things look dim for the jackets. Good thing for the jackets, South Stanly had a costly holding penalty followed by a Lexington sack landing them in a third down and long situation. It would lead to South Stanly having a 3rd down with a mile to go in which they did not convert and ended up having to punt.
Lexington's next dive Jaylen Henderson linked up with Rahzel Ewart for a big gain touchdown with Huge Martinez Rodriguez adding an extra point making it 7-6 in Lexington favor with 3 minutes left in the 2nd quarter.
South Stanly on the next drive came out fired up to reply to Lexington score with a big pass play and around a minute left in the half. Next play was for a touchdown that ended up being called back due to a South Stanly holding penalty . The penalty seemed to not stop South Stanly from trying to score as they came back with another pass play that landed them big yardage. South Stanly with some momentum rolled the dice again and dialed up a pass play that resulted in Lexingto’s Kamari McDonald with an interception in the endzone with 23.5 seconds left in the half. With Jackets in possession of the ball with field position not in their favor, elected to take a knee and run the rest of the clock out and go into halftime with the lead.
Start of Second half Lexington kick off resulted in a South Stanly touchback. On the drive they put up a big pass play that put them ahead of Lexington 12-7. South Stanly decided to go for 2 point conversion that they converted to make the game 14-7.
The following kickoff to Lexington was another short kick that ended up in a fair catch. Moments later the jackets threw another interception ending the jackets driver earlier than expected.
South Stanly on the next drive had a big pass play and seemed to gain momentum. Free safety Saquan Cuthbertson had other plans with a big interception that gave the Jackets some life. Unfortunately the Jackets couldn't take advantage of the turnover and was forced to punt with 2:45 left in the 3rd quarter.
South Stanly's next drive had an illegal motion followed by a false start that moved them from a 3rd and short to a 3rd and long. Jackets junior Zakhi White had an amazing sack to end the 3rd quarter on fourth down to give the Jackets the ball to start the fourth down 14-7.
Jackets start the 4th quarter with the ball. First play ended up being called back due to a personal foul. Momentum seemed to be losing ground as the jackets had a quick 3 and out which resulted in them having to punt back to South Stanly.
Lexington had a face mask call on the punt to South Stanly. The penalty had Lexington on their heels as South Stanly started in Lexington territory. With the football gods on the Lexington side, junior defensive back Daquan Creamer came up with an interception on the first play of the drive. Disappointed Jacket fans were hurt that the end result from the turnover ended up in a Jackets 3 and out with a punt back to South Stanly .
The Defense determined that the game was still in reach for Lexington came up with a big fumble on the first play of the next drive with 9:16 left in the 4th.
Next possession for Lexington had senior running back Qwazir Craven running up middle for a touchdown on the first play. Hugo with the golden toe added the extra point making the game 14-14.
First play on South Stanly's next drive ended up in a fumble which the Jackets recovered and electrified the Jacket crowd with 8:12 left in the 4th quarter. With Lexington in possession of the ball Jaylen Henderson came up big with a 3rd down run to make it a Lexington first down. Henderson’s run setup Craven for another touchdown run that Hugo added an extra point making it 21-14 in Jackets favor.
With South Stanly being down late in the fourth quarter they were forced to be in a passing situation that played heavily in the Jackets favor. Jackets record a big third down sack on the drive. On the next play South Stanly converted on a huge 4th down conversion giving them a new set of downs. On a second down, juniorr Dale Clodfelter and junior Kaedyn Thomas-Heart stepped up big with a sack. On the next play Dale Clodfelter came up big with another sack on 3rd down. Back against the wall, South Stanly forced a passing situation ending up throwing an interception to Jaylen Henderson who ended up giving them the knockout blow as he took it back for a touchdown. Reliable Hugo added an extra point and ended things for a Jacket viction 28-14.
My Takes:
The hour plus travel time might have had a factor on the boys as it seemed in the first quarter they came out sluggish and dry. Second half mainly in the fourth quarter they woke up and handled the business. Defense stood up when needed and helped the Lexington Yellow Jackets get the win. With every snap, the senior Quarterback is learning and getting better. The team as a whole is starting to gel and grow as a team. With seniors leading the way and underclassmen starting to fill the gaps, Jackets are heading in the right direction. When hit with adversity the boys ended up overcoming .
My MVP: 2nd Half Defense.
Offense: Rahzel Ewart, Qwazir Craven, Hugo Martinez Rodriguez.
Defense: Saquan Cuthbertson, Zakhi White, Jordan Summers, Dale Clodfelter,Kamari Mcdonald, Daquan Creamer, Kaedyn thomas-Hearst, Jaylen Henderson.
