IT WAS East Jackson’s homecoming, but Morgan County spent most of the night celebrating.
The Bulldogs (5-2, 2-2) rolled up a 36-3 halftime lead to drop the Eagles to 0-7 on the season and 0-4 in Region 8-AA play.
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Fullback Marquis Benton scored two touchdowns and Grayson Segrest and Andrew Couch each added scores on the ground as Morgan County snapped a two-game losing skid. Quarterback Trent Hawk also threw a 24-yard touchdown pass to Austin Ross.
East Jackson did a get a 27-yard field goal in the first half from Sam Derochers. Backup quarterback Brodhi Strong also scored on a one-yard keeper with 8:17 left in the game for the Eagles’ first touchdown since the Sept. 21 Jackson County game.
“It is what it is,” East Jackson coach Brian Smith said. “I thought we did some things decent at times. I thought at the end, Brodhi (Strong) threw it well and we did some good things. But we’re our own worst enemy right now.”
The Eagles found themselves trying to dig out of an early hole.
East Jackson trailed 15-3 late in the first quarter after giving up a 35-yard touchdown run by Couch and a one yard-score by Benton. After Benton scored, East Jackson fumbled the ensuing kickoff return. Shortly after, Hawk connected with Ross on their 24-yard scoring strike to put the Eagles down 22-3. Smith called that series of events “the killer.”
“They go and get a short field and they score,” Smith said.
East Jackson never recovered.
Benton pushed the led to 29-3 with a 20-yard touchdown run with 7:42 left in the second quarter. Segrest scored from two yards out just 21 seconds before halftime.
Not helping matters was that East Jackson suffered another injury when linebacker Taylor Saulters was lost toward the end of the first half.
“It was going downhill fast at that point,” Smith said.
Drashun Upadhyay, who caught a 30-yard pass from Strong to set up East Jackson’s lone touchdown, also left the game in the fourth quarter with a broken ankle.
“It’s not getting any easier with injuries, but it’s something we’ve got to do,” Smith said. “I’ve said before, none of our opponents are worried about it … Our guys, we’re going to play with who we have.”
East Jackson did have a one big special teams highlight with Tyree Rakestraw returning a kickoff 90 yards in the first quarter to the Morgan County five, setting up the Eagles’ field goal.
Smith said his team simply has to persevere and try to finish strong despite the way the season has unfolded and the inordinate amount of injuries.
“It’s a thing in life that you have to learn — that life is not always great,” he said. “But you’ve got to line up and do your job and go to work. And this is part of our work for all of us.”
