Football games with first place on the line have more of everything.
There is a bit more pushing and shoving than your average game, a few more big hits, a handful of more penalty flags. In the end, like any other game, it comes down to which team makes more plays.
For D’Evelyn, the key plays went the wrong way Saturday, Sept. 27, at Trailblazer Stadium. The Jaguars fell 35-13 to Class 3A Metro League rival Summit. The Tigers and Conifer (4-1, 4-0 in league) stand alone atop the conference standings midway through the regular season.
“Last year, (Summit was) a pretty good team and we handed it to them. They did that to us today,” D’Evelyn coach Jeremy Bennett said. “They repaid the favor.”
D’Evelyn (4-1, 3-1) controlled possession early in the game, holding Summit (5-0, 4-0) to limited yardage while building a 3-0 first-quarter lead. But after piecing together a 49-yard drive on its second possession, the Jaguars were held scoreless on four straight plays from the goal line by a tenacious Summit defense.
“In hindsight, do you kick the field goal there? We’ve got one of the better kids in the state kicking the football,” Bennett said. “But, you know, you’ve got to punch those in. We had our chances.”
Six plays later, Summit quarterback Landon Greve rolled to his right and found a wide-open Stephen Ike for a 70-yard touchdown.
“We’re down 3-0 at that point. We come back and Ike runs an incredible route,” Greve said.
D’Evelyn soon showed some playmaking ability of its own. After another strong Summit drive made it 13-3 with 20 seconds left in the first half, the Jaguars ran one play from their own 43-yard line.
Senior quarterback Garrett Griffeth threw up a pass that was tipped by a defender at the Summit 41-yard line, then caught by D’Evelyn receiver Connor Davis, who immediately pitched the ball to Sean Rebek, who then took the ball untouched to the end zone, making it a 13-10 contest at the half.
“It was supposed to be a hook-and-ladder,” said Griffeth, who led the Jaguars with 192 yards passing. “Conner made a nice play and somehow got it to Sean.”
“It was (designed),” Bennett said. “The tip wasn’t, obviously, but that’s what we were coming with. I was thinking maybe the football lords were with us after that play.”
But the football lords apparently missed the memo to stick around after halftime, as the Jaguars managed to score just three points the rest of the way.
Greve took over in the second half for Summit, finishing with 222 yards passing with three touchdowns to go along with 84 yards and a score rushing in a game he called “very heated.” D’Evelyn struggled to slow down the visitors, and things got chippy between the two squads as the Tigers completed three consecutive touchdown drives. Flags flew on seemingly every play late in the game.
“Our team went a little brain-dead in the second half,” Bennett said. “It’s nothing (Summit) did, it’s what we didn’t do. But they’ve got some talent. (Greve) is as good as they get at any level.”
Bennett and the D’Evelyn players found some silver lining in the cloud of defeat, however.
“(Hollingsworth) is in trouble next year because he plays nine seniors on both sides of the ball, so the tank’s empty for him after this year,” Bennett said.
“We’re still 4-1, which isn’t bad,” said Griffeth. “But 5-0 sounded a lot better.”