T-wolves top Tommies

Published 11:43 pm Friday, September 2, 2011

MARYSVILLE — In a showdown filled with fumbles, penalties and other first-game miscues, it was — perhaps quite fittingly — a lucky bounce that set up the winning points in Jackson’s 16-14 season-opening football victory over Marysville-Pilchuck on Friday night.

Moments after scoring a go-a

head touchdown late in the first half, the Timberwolves squibbed a kickoff and the ball struck a Marysville Pilchuck player. Jackson recovered at the M-P 46-yard line and four plays later — one of them a 31-yard pass from quarterback Sam Brown to wide receiver Andrew Dodd — place-kicker Trevor Hodge booted a 28-yard field goal, giving Jackson a 16-7 halftime lead.

Little did anyone realize how important those three points would be.

In the second half, Marysville-Pilchuck’s defense stiffened, keeping the visitors off the scoreboard the rest of the way. The Tomahawks scored a touchdown early in the fourth quarter, yet could not get the go-ahead points.

But they came close. Twice in the final two minutes Marysville Pilchuck moved the ball into Jackson’s end of the field. But the first possession ended on downs and the second ended as time expired.

“I think my heart stopped for a minute and a half while we were waiting for that clock to wind down,” Jackson coach Joel Vincent said with a grin of relief.

But as thrilling as the game’s final seconds were, the late first-half moments were decisive.

After a Marysville-Pilchuck touchdown made the score 7-7 with 2:47 to play before halftime, Jackson used a six-play, 63-yard march (aided by a defensive pass interference penalty) to reach the end zone. Brown rolled left and then threw back to the right to tight end Josh Gilbert, who scooted the final 19 yards to the end zone with 34 seconds remaining.

The T-wolves then set up an onside kick … sort of.

“It’s an onside kick, but it isn’t,” Vincent explained. “We tell (the kicker) to pick a guy in the front line, kick it at him and if it hits him, great. We’re still planning to cover downfield … but it just so happened that he had pretty good aim and it hit that kid.”

Jackson’s Alex Warner recovered the loose ball, setting up Hodge’s last-second field goal.

“At that point I thought it was still going to be a pretty high-scoring (game),” Vincent said. “I didn’t really foresee that it was going to be that big.”

Marysville-Pilchuck scored on a fourth-quarter three-play, 64-yard drive to pull within two, 16-14. And the Tomahawks had two promising possessions later in the period, but Jackson’s defense held on to preserve the win.

“We battled hard in the second half,” Tomahawks coach Brandon Carson said, “but we made far too many mistakes to win this game.”

Citing five turnovers, including four in the first quarter, he added, “I don’t know if it was first-game jitters or what, but we’ve got to get that corrected. … We can’t make that many mistakes early in the game.”

Even in defeat, the Tomahawks had several standouts. They included running back Cody House, who carried 12 times for 140 yards and a touchdown; and defensive lineman Calvin White, who was a constant presence in the Jackson offensive backfield.

“I don’t know who big No. 76 (White) is for them,” Vincent said. “But, man, did we have trouble blocking that kid.”

Tomahawks quarterback Jake Luton, a 6-foot-6 sophomore making his first varsity start, passed 12 times with six completions for 84 yards and a touchdown, but also fumbled four times (losing two) and threw an interception.

“For his first varsity start, I was very happy with him,” Carson said. “He made some good plays and he made some good throws. He’ll just keep getting better.”

“I’ve known Jake Luton since he was a little kid, and I know what a talent he is and what he’s going to be,” Vincent agreed. “And we knew they were going to come out and throw a little bit. But I was really proud. My secondary really rose to the challenge.”

At Marysville-Pilchuck H.S.

Jackson 7 9 0 0 _ 16

Marysville-Pil. 0 7 0 7 _ 14

Jack–Robinson 19 run (Hodge kick)

MP–House 43 run (Cynkar kick)

Jack–Gilbert 19 pass from Brown (kick failed)

Jack–Hodge 28 field goal

MP–Nobach 27 pass from Luton (Cynkar kick)