Enjoy the moment.
In the midst of last year’s historic postseason run, West Jones head football coach Scott Pierson did something he felt he’d hadn’t done in all his years of coaching - take a few moments in the middle of it all to enjoy the journey.
"I think we need to do a better job of letting our kids enjoy it too," said Pierson. "As you start winning and you haven't lost, the pressure starts to build, and you try to chase something that a lot of times is not going to be perfect. We can't be scared of letting our kids fail. We talk about that all the time. Sometimes our kids make mistakes, and we are a bit too hard on them. We have to do a better job, and me especially, of letting our kids make mistakes and correcting them after they do."
Late Friday night in Soso, Pierson and his stable of Mustangs enjoyed a big win moment. West Jones (5-0, 1-0) kept its unblemished record spotless with a 44-7 win over Brookhaven (1-4, 0-1) in the opening week of Region 3-5A play.
Not to take away from the moment and a lopsided win, Pierson pointed to some areas that needed work.
“For some reason after every bye [week], we’re sloppy,” said Pierson. “Outside the penalties, I thought we played well, but if you want to be good and you want to be great, you got to clean some stuff up. So we have a little work to do, but we’re good because we’re only halfway through the season.”
Three times West Jones started offensive drives in favorable field position, yet came away without points to show. Four other times they finished with scores.
“If we’re going to pick a ball off, block a punt, or something like that we’ve got to cash in,” said Pierson. “Forty-four points is great, but there were times we could have put the game away early and didn’t. But those are things we can improve on.”
A big chunk of their points came in the first half - 30 to be exact. Junior quarterback Alan Follis accounted for all four of Mustangs' first-half touchdowns - a 35-yard strike to Cedric Bender, 1-yard rushing score, and an 11 and 43-yard TD pass to Tajrick Randolph.
West Jones wide receiver Tajrick Randolph attempts to catch a pass Friday night in Soso against region foe Brookhaven.
"As I said at the beginning of the year when our quarterback is throwing the ball, and our receivers are catching it, it makes it much easier to run the ball," Pierson said. "They complement each other. And along those same lines, I thought we threw and caught the ball well tonight. One (Randolph) and 2 (Follis) have something special going on. Any time we need a big play, they come up with it. We just need to find someone else to compliment him."
On defense, West Jones held Brookhaven to seven points and 95 yards of offense.
Quote of the Night:
"I think [moving forward], it's about improving ourselves. Cleaning up what we do. Again, I don't know how good everyone else is, but I know how good we could be. So, I'm holding our guys too they're standard. If that's good enough - great - if not, that's okay too." West Jones head coach Scott Pierson.
Up Next:
West Jones continues Region 3-5A play next Friday night in Ellisville as the Mustangs face county rival, South Jones. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m.
Notes:
Kentrall Pruitt and Jasper Jones each had a 3-yard touchdown run.
Ken Russell led the defense with two interceptions.
