SHORELINE — Consistent offensive production by the Shorecrest football team in last week’s high-scoring battle with Jackson was marred by a season-high six turnovers.
The Scots accumulated 30 minutes of possession and 23 first downs, but couldn’t overcome their own mistakes as Jackson prevailed 45-30 in an Oct. 8 Western Conference South Division shootout at Shoreline Stadium.
“Our guys were worn out,” Scots coach Mike Wollan said. “It was a hard-hitting game and we just ran out of steam. They did battle back and we gave ourselves a chance at the end.”
On the first play from scrimmage, running back Shawn Klaus found a hole up the middle and sprinted 80 yards to put the Timberwolves ahead.
The Scots (2-4) answered when junior tailback Jesse Hoffman blasted through the Jackson defense for a 1-yard score to cap a 13-play, 63-yard drive. Hoffman carried the ball 10 times for all 63 yards of the 5:22 possession.
With two minutes left in the first quarter Klaus exploded again, this time for 56 yards down the right sideline. The run led to sophomore quarterback Jake Gelakoska’s 31-yard TD pass to Mustafa Majeed.
On what would become an omen of things to come, Jackson (4-2) then recovered a Shorecrest fumble to regain possession. Capitalizing on the turnover, Nathin Bruns nailed a 39-yard field goal to increase Jackson’s lead to 17-7.
The Timberwolves stopped the next two Shorecrest possessions by intercepting Jon Glancy.
Majeed picked off the senior quarterback to set up a 21-yard TD run by Klaus. Another interception led to Chris Bowen’s 4-yard TD pass to tight end Rory Wilson on fourth down that gave Jackson a 31-7 cushion.
The Scots countered with a 15-play, 80-yard drive capped by Glancy’s 7-yard touchdown strike to senior wide receiver Trevor McFarlane. Sophomore Kevin Ramos ran in the two-point conversion to trim the deficit to 31-15 at halftime.
Hoffman ran for 113 yards on 20 carries and caught two passes for 38 yards in the first half before leaving the game following a hard hit in the second quarter.
The second half started poorly for the Scots as the Timberwolves recovered their own kickoff to give them possession on the Shorecrest 23-yard line. Gelakoska hit tight end Andrew Rochon for a 22-yard touchdown pass.
Without the services of their star tailback, the Scots tweaked their offense and drove 67 yards in 10 plays. With a key block by senior lineman Chris Lindsey, Ramos ran 14 yards around the left side for a score to tighten the margin to 38-22.
“Obviously we had to make some adjustments with Jesse hurt,” Shorecrest coach Mike Wollan said. “We scrambled, came up with something and the guys responded.”
At the beginning of the fourth quarter Glancy led the Scots on a 13-play, 77-yard scoring drive that was prolonged by Collin Sternagel’s 25-yard diving snag on fourth-and-10. Glancy’s 1-yard TD run and two-point conversion pass to McFarlane narrowed Jackson’s edge to 38-30
With five minutes remaining, Jackson fumbled and Shorecrest junior Blake Lasconia recovered the loose ball to give the Scots a chance to knot the score.
“The guys responded and we gave ourselves a chance at the end (with) the turnover,” Wollan said.
But the Scots fumbled for the third time, giving the Timberwolves the ball at the Shorecrest 10-yard line. Two plays later, Klaus scored his third touchdown of the night with a 6-yard run to clinch the win.
Klaus finished the night with 224 of Jackson’s 245 rushing yards. Glancy was 10 of 30 passing for 143 yards and three interceptions.
“The kids overcame some things, with Jesse going down and obviously some turnovers,” Wollan said. “But it was too big of a hole to come out of.”
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