Peyton Brown turned the offense on a dime.
Before the senior quarterback entered the game late in the second quarter, West Jones’ offense was in the red. In two drives, one ending in a three-yard touchdown pass from Brown to senior athlete Devrion Hatten and the other in a 28-yard field goal by junior kicker Walker Thompson, West Jones narrowed South Jones’ lead by one at the half, 14-13.
The spark, provided by Brown late in the second quarter, turned into a flame by the second half.
West Jones outscored its county rivals 17-7 in the second half to win Friday night on the Reservation, 30-21.
“Brown is a young man that has done everything we’ve asked,” said West Jones head coach Scott Pierson. “He’s been injury prone, and he’s still fighting his leg injury [from last year]. We just ask him to go when he can go. He gave us a spark tonight for sure.”
Before his appearance on the field, West Jones had negative two yards of offense. By night’s end, the Mustangs offense had acquired 260, 170 of those yards came in the second half.
“There were a lot of mistakes on both sides, but a lot of that had to do with kids playing so hard,” Pierson added. “It got sloppy, but it didn’t get that way because of effort. It got that way because a lot of kids laid it on the line.”
West Jones completes the sweep of Jones County teams with the win and remains unbeaten in region play at 5-0.
Defensive Player of the Game
Antonie Kirk found himself in the right place at the right time all night.
The sophomore safety picked up a South Jones fumble early in the third quarter and returned it 30-plus yards for a touchdown. The scoop and score gave West Jones its first lead of the game, 20-14, with 8:45 left to play in the third.
“Kirk was Johnny-on-the-spot tonight,” said Pierson. “He has gotten better every week. All he lacked was confidence early in the season. Once he plays with confidence, he’s a good player.”
Kirk also picked off two John Mitchell (South Jones junior quarterback) passes.
“It was a good night,” said Kirk. “We came out in the second half and played hard. I’m thrilled we got the win. We practiced hard all week. This is a good feeling.”
Adjustments
South Jones started the night with a long, methodical first drive that ended in a 43-yard field goal by sophomore place-kicker Mark Diers. The drive started deep in South Jones territory and took nearly eight minutes off the clock.
Mitchell had several successful quarterback keepers in the drive, racking up 35-yards on the ground in the eight-minute span.
After West Jones made defensive adjustments, Mitchell fell into the negative yards for the remainder of the contest.
The adjustments continued through the game. Allowing 137 offensive yards in the first half, the Mustangs held their county and region rivals to just 50 yards in the second half.
South Jones didn’t help its cause, fumbling the ball over to West Jones twice and tossing two picks.
“Our defense forced big turnovers at the right time tonight,” said Pierson.
Stat leaders
West Jones senior running back Austin Land had his fifth 100-plus yards game Friday night.
He finished with 118 yards on 24 carries and one touchdown. His 20-yard touchdown run late in the fourth stanza sealed the game for the Green and Gold.
Field goal specialist Walter Thompson nailed three field goals in the win. Thompson’s longest, a 45-yard FG, tied the score 3-3 late in the first quarter. He also split the upright’s from 28 and 31 yards.
Brown at quarterback finished with 90 yards through the air on six completions and 23 on the ground from eight carries.
Where they go from here?
West Jones (8-2) will host Wingfield at home next Friday night, while South Jones (7-3) travels to Brookhaven. Kickoffs are scheduled for 7 p.m.
