Trojans clinch share of TCS title
JEFFERSON — Three Trojans ran for over 100 yards as California clinched at least a share of the Tri-County South Conference title Friday night with a 57-8 win over Jefferson-Morgan.
The conference title is Cal’s eighth overall and its first since 2006. The Trojans (6-0, 9-0) will look to win the title outright next week against West Greene at home.
“We always have weekly goals,” Cal coach Darrin Dillow said. “But, definitely, our first team goal was to win the conference. Hopefully, next week we can win it outright. We don’t want to share it. Next week is a big game.”
Despite the loss, the Rockets (2-4, 3-6) are still alive for the fifth and final playoff spot in the TCS. J-M hosts Fort Cherry Friday and if the Rockets win, they are in. J-M would also qualify for the playoffs if Mapletown beats Monessen next week.
“California has a nice team, they are pretty solid all around,” J-M coach Aaron Giorgi said. “Their kids are pretty nice. They definitely have something good going for them this year. We were prepared for what they run, but they just executed it better. We are still alive for the playoffs and we have to focus on next week.”
Senior Jonathan Wood led the trio of Trojans on the ground with 13 carries for 175 yards and five touchdowns. Senior Zion Aldrich (nine carries for 144 yards) and sophomore Cochise Ryan (seven rushes for 129 yards) also scored a touchdown in the rout.
Junior running back Jelani Stafford, who came into Friday’s game leading the 蘑菇视频 Touchdown Club race with 134 points, didn’t play in the contest due to injury.
“We had a couple of kids dinged up and Jelani fell into that category tonight,” Dillow said. “It was important for us to get him some rest this week. I thought the other backs played well. There’s no drop off when those other kids run the ball.”
Cal got things going two minutes into the game with a 20-yard touchdown run by Ryan for a 7-0 lead.
The Trojans led 21-0 at the end of one quarter after a pair of scoring runs by Wood from 5 and 14 yards.
Sandwiched around two more touchdowns by Wood from 18 and 3 yards out, was a 2-yard quarterback keeper by senior Colin Phillips in the second quarter. Cal carried a 43-0 lead into halftime.
Aldrich scored a 16-yard run in the early stages of the third quarter for the Trojans, and a 31-yard scoring run by Wood capped off the scoring by the visitors at the 1:50 mark of the third quarter.
The Rockets got on the scoreboard late in the fourth when junior Jacob Broadwater tossed a 65-yard touchdown pass to sophomore Zack Gamble.
“We needed a spark late,” Giorgi said. “We needed something positive to go our way and that was a nice ball by Jake. Zach also did a nice job of hauling in the pass and making guys miss down field.”
Another key element to Cal’s success this season has been senior kicker Dustin Mock, who went 7-for-7 on extra points and kicked the ball consistently deep on kickoffs to pin back J-M in its own territory.
“Dustin has been great for us,” Dillow said. “Not a lot of Class A teams have a reliable kicker. He is always great on extra points and he has a strong leg for kickoffs. We are a little creative on special teams, and he does a lot of good things for us in the kick game.”
Both teams combined for seven turnovers in the game. For the season, Cal has outscored its opponents by a 496-74 margin.
“Pursuit of the ball has been our calling card all season long on defense,” Dillow said. “A lot of attention is paid too our offense, but I really like the way we are playing defense. We always preach pursuit in practice. We take a lot of pride in the way we play defense.”
Tri-County South Conference
California聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 聽 21-22-14-0 — 57
Jefferson-Morgan聽 聽0-0-0-8 — 8
First Quarter
Cal: Cochise Ryan 20 run (Dustin Mock kick), 9:52 (7-0)
Cal: Jonathan Wood 5 run (Mock kick), 5:45 (14-0)
Cal: Wood 14 run (Mock kick), 2:36 (21-0)
Second Quarter
Cal: Wood 18 run (Mock kick), 9:01 (28-0)
Cal: Colin Phillips 2 run (Nathan Zemany pass from Phillips), 6:11 (36-0)
Cal: Wood 3 run (Mock kick), 3:18 (43-0)
Third Quarter
Cal: Zion Aldrich 16 run (Mock kick), 8:42 (50-0)
Cal: Wood 31 run (Mock kick), 1:50 (57-0)
Fourth Quarter
JM: Zack Gamble 65 pass from Jacob Broadwater (DL Garrett pass from Broadwater, 1:14 (57-8)
Records: California (6-0, 9-0), Jefferson-Morgan (2-4, 3-6).