IN A battle billed as “East vs. West,” Jackson County made sure it was an all-West side night.
The Panthers (3-1, 1-0) earned their first-ever win over East Jackson (0-4, 0-1), rolling up 40 first-half points in a 47-7 trouncing of the neighboring Eagles Friday at Panther Stadium. Click here for photos.
Click here for photos.
Jackson County quarterback Kyle Daniel threw three touchdown passes — all to Xavier Harper — and added a rushing touchdown. Harper’s three touchdown receptions included a 74-yard score on the opening play of the second half.
Running back Dustin Scott also had two rushing touchdowns, and Keyshaun Curry returned a kickoff 90 yards for a touchdown as the Panthers broke a two-game losing streak in this rivalry.
“Coming into this week, we had to practice like we would play,” said Scott, who scored on touchdown runs of 24 and two yards. “All throughout the whole week of practice, we had been sharp and had been executing the plays and everything, and coming out here and scoring that big in the first half, it was great to see how all our hard work is just paying off.”
Just as impressive was Jackson County’s defense. The Panthers only allowed the Eagles to cross midfield twice in the first half and forced East Jackson to punt five times. The Eagles finished with just 107 yards.
“Our defense, they came out and played hard,” Panther defensive lineman Chris Foster said. “I was really proud of our defense ... We had a lot of three-and-outs and we just played hard.”
Foster finished with six tackles, two assists, one sack and two tackles for loss. Linebacker Daivon Ledford led the Panthers with 10 tackles, four assists and one tackle for loss.
With the defense producing those three-and-outs, Jackson County built a 20-0 lead after the first quarter. The Panthers got a one-yard touchdown run by Daniel and touchdown passes from Daniel to Harper covering 17 and 15 yards.
“I told them we needed to start fast on both sides of the ball,” Jackson County coach Benji Harrison said. “I thought we did. Defensively, we continue to run to the football. I keep saying that. If we run to the football and get 11 hats to the ball, good things can happen ... Offensively, we’re starting to click and hopefully, we can just continue to build on it and get better every week.”
Scott broke loose for a 24-yard touchdown run on the first play of the second quarter and added a two-yard score later in the period to put the Panthers up 34-0.
East Jackson’s Austin Beauchamp threw a two-yard touchdown to Casey Reed late in the second quarter for the Eagles’ only score, but Curry answered with his kickoff return for a touchdown to give Jackson County a 40-7 lead.
The Panthers’ 40 first-half points could very well be a Jackson County record.
“It may be,” Harrison said. “I’m not sure. I’m proud of them. They played well. I didn’t know how we would play. The kids had a great week. They did. They were focused. They really wanted this game.”
Daniel threw a little screen pass to Harper on the first play of the second half and the speedy junior took 74 yards for a score to put the Panthers up 47-7.
Eagle coach Brian Smith said that play as well as Jackson County’s big returns in the kicking game and East Jackson dropping a wide-open pass in the first quarter — which could have very well been a touchdown — seemed to sum up the Eagles’ season so far.
“All those we have chances on to make huge plays and we don’t and the opponent takes advantage, takes the crease that we give them and turn them into a huge advantage for themselves,” Smith said.
That advantage showed up in the stat sheet for Jackson County.
Daniel finished with 191 yards on 13-of-21 passing, and Harper tallied 110 yards receiving. Daniel has now thrown seven touchdown passes in the last two games, while Harper has six touchdown catches. Three of those touchdown catches have covered more than 50 yards.
The Panthers — who finished with 354 total yards – have now scored 86 points in their last two ball games, and players feel the offense is really starting to take form.
“We’ve come so far,” said Scott, who finished with 79 yards rushing. “Just to think about it is crazy. Coming from the scrimmage, we had a lot of work to do. We knew that and now that we’re starting to believe in the program, it’s starting to work. We still have a lot of work to do but it’s just getting better and better.”
The Panthers are 1-0 in region play with the win and that was one of the main objectives of the night for Jackson County.
“My harp on it was that it was the first region game, and we needed to play well in the first region game to get this thing started right,” Harrison said.
Bragging rights were also up for grabs, of course. For the Jackson County seniors, beating East Jackson was a moment they’d long been waiting for.
“I can’t even explain it right now,” Foster said. “It’s amazing. I don’t know. There’s no words to describe it.”
Said Scott: “It feels great, to come out here — (against) guys we know, guys we’ve played with a long time — (as) underdogs and actually win it to show who’s really on top now.”
