The Huddle: Coach Demetris Royal's local football highlights - The Yellow Jacket serve up the Dragons for Homecoming
On October 11th the 4-2 West Davidson Dragon rolled into the hive of the Lexington Yellow Jackets to take on the 4-2 Jackets. Lexington’s Homecoming and Hall of Fame induction night lived up to all expectations. The Dragons, coming off a shocking 14-0 win against the Thomasville Bulldogs last week, looked to keep the momentum alive against the Jackets, who were coming off a dominating 69-0 win against the South Davidson Wildcats.
West would receive the opening kickoff, Senior K’brian Robinson stopped the opening kickoff return with a tackle. On open drive, Seniors Naquel Wood and Rahzel Ewart with Juniors Zakhi White, Kaedyne Thomas-Hearst, Nijaylin Gilmore, and K’Brian Robinson all came up with tackles on the drive that led to a Dragons punt.
On the Jackets first possession of the game Senior Qwazir Craven came up with a first down run. Senior Jaylen Henderson connected with Junior Collin Weeks for a first down catch. Moments later Henderson found Wood for the first touchdown of the game. Senior Hugo Martinez Rodriguez added the extra point making it 7-0 in favor of the Jackets with 6:30 left in the first quarter.
West Davidson's next drive saw a lot of runs that had stops from Rahzel, Senior Kiraman Small, Kaedyne and Junior Dale Clodfeleter. Junior Kamari McDonald came up big with a 4th down stop to end the Dragon’s drive. The Jackets regaining possession of the ball saw Henderson run for a first down. McDonald helped move the change with a first down reception. A few plays later Craven found the endzone with a touchdown run. K’brian added a 2 point conversion making the score 15-0 with 1:45 left in the first quarter.
On the kick off to the Dragon's K’brian came up with a big hit. On the drive, Jacket's Junior Daquan Creamer, Gilmore and Kamari came up with stops to end the first quarter with the Jackets ahead 15-0. To start the quarter White came up with a fumble recovery to give the Jackets possession of the ball again. Jacket’s Craven followed with a first down run. Henderson found wood for a first down catch. Following the play Henderson had a quarterback keeper that had him in the endzone for a Jacket’s touchdown. Reliable Hugo added the extra point making it 22-0 with 10 minutes left in the 2nd quarter.
West would fumble the kickoff and Senior Saquan Cuthbertson would come up with it and return it to the 7 yard line. The Jackets had a touchdown pass that got called back due to a pass interference. On the Jackets next play another touchdown pass would be called back on the Jackets, this time a false start would be the reason. West Davidson would end up blocking a Hugo field goal attempt as well as catching it and returning it to the Dragons 30 yard line.
West on the next drive, Rahzel came up with a big tackle to stop momentum. West would find some luck on a 4th and 1 facemask flag on the Jackets that gave them a new set of downs. The Jackets got a flag on a field goal attempt for running into kicker a few plays later giving the Jackets another first down. On the next play of the drive the Dragons would use the quarterback sneak with help from teammates pushing the quarterback into the endzone giving the Dragons their first score of the game. West would miss the extra point attempt leaving the game at 22-6 with 3:22 left in the half.
Jacket’s next time with the ball Henderson and Wood hooked up with a first down pass. Rahzel and Henderson would connect with another first down catch on the next play. An unsportsmanlike flag on the Dragons would move the Jackets forward. Craven added to the drive with a first down run. An unsportsmanlike flag on the Jackets moved them back. West caught the Jacket’s slipping when they came up with an interception with 37 seconds left in the half. The Dragons elected to run the remaining time out with a run on their first possession ending the half at 22-7 in favor of the Jackets.
Jackets receive the ball to start the half. Craven opened things up with a big first down run on the first play. The drive would end up stalling as the jackets had a turnover on downs. West on their next drive would end up having a 3 and out and punting the ball back to the Jackets with 7:40 left in the 3rd quarter. Henderson opened up the drive with a big first down run. Henderson would then find Rahzel for a touchdown pass. Hugo added an extra point making it 29-7 with 6:13 left in the 3rd quarter.
Following kickout jackets found themselves with a personal foul penalty. Wood would help the Jacket’s as he stopped what would have been a touch pass play from the dragons. Dragon’s had a holding call against them that would move them back on the next play. Jackets set themselves back as they got the Dragon’s to a 4th and 14 and had a pass interference call on them to give the Dragons a fresh set of downs. Before the next play could be called the Jackets received an unsportsmanlike flag that had the team and fans seeing the offensive coordinator being sent to the field house. Not only moving the Dragons closer to the end zone but leaving the Jackets without a primary play caller for the rest of the game. Dragons would take advantage of this and score on the very next play. Another personal foul on extra point had the score at 29-14 with 3:42 left in 3rd.
On the next kickoff Dragon’s would fail to convert on an offside kick giving the Jackets good field position. Craven started strong with a first down run. The Dragons would have a facemask flag that moved the Jackets up. Henderson added a first down run to the drive. Unfortunately for the jackets another unsportsmanlike flag was thrown moving them back and forcing jackets to punt. To make things worse, the punt was blocked to end the 3rd at 29-14 with Jackets up.
Dragon’s next drive would result in them having to punt. Henderson and Rahzel linked up for a first down catch to start the drive. The drive would only lead to a 4th and 12 and Jackets punting with 8:24 left in the game. Dragon’s next drive Junior Creamer would come up with an interception giving the Jackets the ball back. On the next couple plays the crowd saw flags on both teams. Jacket’s drive would end with Henderson on a Quarterback keeper finding the endzone making it 35-14 after a failed 2 point conversion with 4:09 left in the game.
West's next drive saw DB Creamer with another interception. Jackets pinned deep in their territory with 2:17 left played it safe and worked the clock. With a 4 and out and electing to take a safety the jackets punted the ball back to the dragons with 27 seconds left. Dragons unable to make any noise, the final score ended up being 35-16 with Jackets getting the win.
My Takes:
The Jackets are rolling on both offense and defense and showing they are the team the coaches and fans believed they could be. Seniors and skill players are stepping up and leading the way. Offense showing the score any way and defense seemed to step up and stop anything at will.The fans were pleased tonight and the win was an add on as the hive celebrated the Hall Of Fame and Homecoming court. Things seem to have turned around for Jacket Nation.
My MVPS:
Jaylen Henderson, Rahzel Ewart, Naquel Wood, Hugo Martinez Rodrigiez, Daquan Creamer
Offense :
Qwazir Craven,
Defense:
Kiraman Small, Kbrian Robinson, Zakhi White, Ni’Kaylin Gilmore,Kaedyn Thomas-Hearst, Dale Clodfelter, Kamari McDonald
