Photos courtesy Peachy Brass Studios
The Strawberry Crest Charger’s senior night went awry this Friday as the team fell 28 to 14 against the Blake Yellow Jackets.
The first quarter ended scoreless despite good field position on each team’s opening drive. Although neither team made it to the red zone, it usually took three (and sometimes four) plays for a team to reset downs. Combine that with both Blake and Strawberry Crest wanting to establish the run, and the timer ran out in the middle of only the second drive for the Chargers.
The home team looked strong in their second drive. Strawberry Crest’s ground game picked up steam and quarterback Zy Floyd drew multiple offsides and encroachment penalties in the drive through his tricky hard count.
The Chargers found themselves in the red zone following a 21-yard catch-and-run off a quick screen to wide receiver Timmy Woods. Once there, the home team kept on the ground for all but one of the six plays in the area.
The offensive line consistently opened holes for Floyd and the Strawberry Crest running backs in this red zone trip. The quarterback ended the drive well for the Chargers with a designed outside run to the one-yard line and then punched the ball in for a touchdown on a sneak in the following play.
At long last, the boys in black and red took the first lead of the night and kicked the ball off to the Yellow Jackets. Blake looked like they were in for a disastrous turn of events as their returner fielded the ball poorly, but the player found a way to recover then turned and ran to Strawberry Crest’s 33-yard line.
It looked like the Chargers’ lead would be short-lived.
Blake’s drive started well. The team earned a first down in three plays following a quick stick route completed to Chris Newman-Hall, but a broken play on the following first down sank their momentum.
After a couple of strong defensive plays, Strawberry Crest held the Yellow Jackets to no gain. The home team forced Blake to kick a field goal. The attempt missed and Blake’s score remained nil despite great starting field position.
The remaining drives in the half failed to get off the ground and Strawberry Crest went into their locker room with a seven to zero advantage over their opponent.
Blake needed more from their star players, especially running back Quentin Deboue. Wearing number one, the Yellow Jackets’ top player put in a quiet half by his standards. Deboue hit 100 rushing yards in every game he played in this year. With their offense sputtering, he needed to be a guy they could look to change their fortunes.
The running back delivered quickly in the second half.
In the first play from scrimmage in the third quarter, Blake quarterback Eddie Mamudi found two-way receiver Jadarian Collins for a big gain, taking them to the opposing 13. From there, the Yellow Jackets left it in the hands of Deboue who found the end zone in two carries.
Despite their sluggish start, Blake seized momentum.
Strawberry Crest did not help their fortunes in their next drive. After a couple of solid rushes by freshman running back Zion Weems, receiver Timmy Woods got the ball stripped from his hands and a Blake defender quickly scooped it and began his return. The defender pounced on his chance to give the offensive players a taste of their own medicine as he juked multiple players out of their shoes in an ankle-breaking effort that brought the ball to the red zone.
Blake immediately cashed in on the drive as Chris Newman-Hall went up and over his defender to snag the touchdown in highlight-reel fashion. The quarter only just started and the Yellow Jackets flipped the scoreline to 14 to 7.
From there, things spun out for Strawberry Crest. Floyd tried to force the ball to his receiver who had the ball ripped from his hands in a sideline interception. Although Crest delivered a leaping pick in return to Mamudi, that, too, was undone when a sloppy handoff led to another Blake fumble recovery.
The turn of fortune demoralized the home fans. Strawberry Crest supporters groaned and thrown items flew overhead (although the game might not have been all at play there). A shifty 57-yard run to the house by Elijah Newman-Hall through a slew of broken tackles only salted the wound for the Chargers faithful. A missed field goal left the score at 20 to 7 with the hope all but dead for the home team.
To make matters worse, Strawberry Crest looked like they had a return touchdown in their grasp on the ensuing kickoff but the returner stumbled untouched as he broke into space. The offense turned the ball over again on the next play.
In the time remaining, Blake notched one more touchdown in a run by Deboue. He ended the night with 115 yards at 7.2 yards per carry.
Backup quarterback Sevin Bagnato came in and led a touchdown drive in garbage time but the game was well over by then. The score finished at 28-14 with Blake rising to 3-5 as Strawberry Crest fell to 5-3.