Trojans clinch playoff berth
COAL CENTER — California scored 29 unanswered points in the second half and clinched its first playoff berth since 2011 after a 45-2 rout of Jefferson-Morgan last Friday night.
The Trojans (5-4, 4-2) are now in sole possession of third place in the Tri-County South Conference behind Carmichaels and Fort Cherry. Cal travels to West Greene next week.
“Making the playoffs is a good step in the right direction for us,” Cal coach Darrin Dillow said. “Obviously, it was one of our main goals. These kids deserve that, but next week we got a game against a really good West Greene team. We want to keep this thing going and hopefully we can end the regular season with a win.”
With the loss, the Rockets (1-8, 1-5) are officially eliminated from the playoffs. J-M concludes its regular season at Fort Cherry next Friday.
Under rainy and windy conditions, Cal controlled things on the ground and racked up 362 rushing yards. The Trojans’ defense was also stout, limiting J-M to just 32 total yards on offense.
“The defense does well every week,” Dillow said. “I know sometimes the scoreboard doesn’t necessarily show that, but we rely on our defense a lot. Our defense has busted their butts this season and it starts up front. We have controlled the line of scrimmage and those guys are penetrating so well. We are designed to shut down the run.”
Jonathan Wood ran for 201 yards on 20 carries with three touchdowns, while Collin Phillips chipped in with 83 yards on eight rushes and two more scores for the Trojans.
Cal took a 7-0 lead on their opening drive, as Wood capped off a five-play, 55-yard drive with a 10-yard run to the end zone at the 10:10 mark of the first quarter.
“This is a type of game build for Jonathan Wood,” Dillow said. “He is a hard-nosed runner and gets better as the game goes along. I told the guys it was going to rain all night and we been getting ready for a wet game all this week. Two weeks ago against Carmichaels we had our issues in the rain. We knew we had to fix that.”
After the teams traded empty possessions, the Trojans increased their advantage to 13-0 after a 1-yard quarterback keeper by Phillips with 3:41 remaining in the opening period.
The Rockets collected their only points of the contest in the final minute of the first quarter, when Cal was called for an intentional grounding in the end zone for a safety.
Dustin Mock had the only score in the second quarter with a 31-yard field goal for Cal. The Trojans held a 16-2 lead at halftime.
In the third quarter, Wood compiled a pair of 5-yard touchdown runs and sandwiched between those scores was a 9-yard touchdown run by Phillips.
With the mercy rule in effect in the fourth quarter, Cal scored the final touchdown by way of a 31-yard dash to the end zone by Lucas Qualk. A two-point conversion pass from Phillips to Braden Petrucci gave the home team a 43-point lead on Senior Night.
The Trojans honored its six seniors in the pregame. Kass Taylor, Tyler Rothfuss, Tim Sheehan, Cody Crow, Nick Barron and James Harris were recognized.
Tri-County South Conference
Jefferson-Morgan 聽 聽2-0-0-0-2
California 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 13-3-21-8-45
First Quarter
Cal: Jonathan Wood 10 run (Dustin Mock kick), 10:10 (7-0)
Cal: Collin Phillips 1 run (pass failed), 3:41 (13-0)
JM: Safety, 1:59 (13-2)
Second Quarter
Cal: Mock 31 field goal, 3:05 (16-2)
Third Quarter
Cal: Wood 5 run (Wood run), 10:25 (24-2)
Cal: Phillips 9 run (Mock kick), 5:08 (31-2)
Cal: Wood 5 run (kick failed), 1:00 (37-2)
Fourth Quarter
Cal: Lucas Qualk 31 run (Braden Petrucci pass from Phillips), 6:38 (45-2)
Records: California (5-4, 4-2), Jefferson-Morgan (1-8, 1-5)