Jacksboro opens district with 37-22 win

HENRIETTA – The silence was deafening.

Using a quick Tiger start and the ability to quickly counter any comeback the host Bearcats had, Jacksboro made a statement and threw its hat into the District 5-3A Division II race with a convincing 37-22 win at Bearcat Stadium Friday night that obviously stunned many of the host faithful.

Jacksboro Coach Brannon Rodgers said his squad’s ability to counter comebacks was perhaps too good.

“We were scoring too quick there for a while,” Rodgers said after watching his troops remain a perfect 6-0 overall and dropping the ‘Cats to their second straight loss at 4-2. “We wanted to get out to a fast start here and we did.”

It took just 40 seconds to put Henrietta on notice they were in for a battle. After a 70-yard pass from Payton Laake to Luke Dixon set up first-and-10 at the Henrietta 12, senior Hunter Jackson went up the gut for the first of his three scores. Fernando Piedra tacked on the conversion.

Later in the first, Jacksboro mounted a sustained eight-play, 67-yard drive culminating in Hunter Hackley going the final nine steps to the promised land for a 13-0 lead with one second left in the first.

Henrietta wasn’t going away, mounting a sustained drive on the ensuing series. An eight-play, 64-yard drive that alternated between Zach West and Mason Marchman on the ground with West hitting Marchman on an 18-yard pass play where Marchman broke three different sets of tackles on his way to paydirt cutting the lead to 13-7 with 8:21 left in the first half.

Wanting to make a quick statement, Caleb Keith went 37 yards on the first play, the series ending in a 42-yard Piedra field goal for a 16-7 lead. Jacksboro looked to put things away late in the half. After a short punt, Laake found a wide-open Jackson who scooted the final 10 yards of the 40-yard play untouched into the end zone as time expired and the Tigers holding a 23-7 lead at intermission.

Using the big play, the Tigers put up 263 yards of first-half offense and held the hosts to 109.

Henrietta continued the fight into the second half, marching 75 yards on its opening possession with West looking to pass on fourth-and-long but instead taking the ball 21 yards to the end zone.

West, who rushed for 173 yards on 30 carries, was a thorn all night for Jacksboro. Rodgers said he knew the talented senior would get his yardage.

“He’s probably the best player I’ve ever been on the field against,” Rodgers said. “We just had to stay with it.”

That the Tigers did, needing just 78 seconds to march 71 yards in three plays with Jackson going the final 58 yards to the house and extending the lead to 30-14. Henrietta turned the lone turnover of the game into a score late in the third with a two-yard West run cutting the lead to 30-22 after a West conversion.

Jacksboro came right back using a 54-yard kick return from Ty Kennedy to the Bearcat 34. This time, it was Hunter Hackley heading right and heading down the Tiger sideline for the score.

The Tigers came through with three of their four sacks in the final 12 minutes with Hackley and Grant Thompson doing the job defensively to shut the door.

Jacksboro will host Nocona, which lost to Holliday, Friday in a 7 p.m. game.