EVERETT — Jackson football coach Joel Vincent grabbed a glimpse of the future when backup quarterback sophomore Gabe Rochon stepped in for an injured Jake Gelakoska and helped to deliver a homecoming night victory.
Though Gelakoska had already spotted the inexperienced quarterback a 16-point lead, it was Rochon who helped Jackson fight off a valiant second-half comeback and defeat the Thunderbirds, 36-28 Oct. 20 at Everett Memorial Stadium.
Gelakoska, who threw two touchdowns on the team’s first two possessions, both to Colby Robinson, left the field and headed to the locker room with 1:57 remaining in the first quarter. He returned just before halftime, wearing street clothes and using crutches after he suffered an injury to his right foot. Gelakoska, before getting injured, was 4 of 6 for 118 yards and threw two touchdowns.
Rochon completed his first pass to senior Billy Green for 24 yards as the Timberwolves, who led 23-7, marched deep into Thunderbird territory. But an errant pass a few plays later led to an interception by Shorewood’s Tysen Allumbaugh at the Thunderbird 11-yard line. Rochon responded impressively on his second series as he led the Timberwolves 22 yards for a touchdown. Connor Gage capped off the drive with a 2-yard run to give Jackson what seemed to be a commanding 30-7 lead at half.
Although his numbers weren’t overly impressive, Rochon, who completed just 3 of 5 for 34 yards with a touchdown and an interception, guided the Timberwolves to two touchdowns, one of which was a 2-yard touchdown pass to Kawika Emsley-Pai early in the third quarter, which gave Jackson a 36-7 lead.
After punting the football three times and turning the ball over, either on downs or by fumbles, in the first half, Shorewood returned from intermission a new team. The Thunderbirds, who trailed at half in total yards 235-107, scored three consecutive touchdowns and held Jackson to just six second-half points.
Backup quarterback Tysen Allumbaugh, who started in place of injured quarterback Jordan Kellington, threw a 34-yard touchdown pass to sophomore receiver JK Dykes on Shorewood’s second possession of the third quarter. Allumbaugh struck again early in the fourth quarter when he connected with receiver Devin Whittle, who ran 66 yards for the touchdown to make the score 36-20.
“If we don’t shoot ourselves in the foot and miss assignments, we could have won this game,” said Shorewood coach Paul Christianson, whose Thunderbirds end the season tonight against Meadowdale (4-3, 4-4) at 7 p.m. at Shoreline Stadium. “We actually spotted them (T-wolves) 20 points and you can’t beat a quality team like Jackson when you do that.”
After forcing Jackson to punt on its next series, the Thunderbirds drove 47 yards, ending in a 1-yard touchdown run by Morgan Marchant. Shorewood went for, and got, the 2-point conversion to make it an eight-point deficit at 36-28 with 2:09 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Jackson recovered Shorewood’s onside kick and went on to preserve the victory.
Shorewood’s Tysen Allumbaugh, who attempted just one pass in the first half, finished 8 of 14 for 153 yards. At one point, he had completed five consecutive passes.
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