CLASS 2A ROUNDUP: After turnovers prove costly in season-opening loss, Class 2A, DII Meridian hosts Cross Roads; Class 2A, DI Valley Mills hopes to turn things around on the road at Holland
Lining up against a bigger school on opening night of the 2024 Texas high school football season, the Class 2A, Division II Meridian Yellowjackets stung and shocked the Class 2A, DI Bruceville-Eddy Eagles early. But as the game progressed, the Jackets proved to be their own worst enemy.
Although a big play on special teams gave the Jackets the early lead, turnovers proved costly and too much to overcome as Bruceville-Eddy rallied and soared to a convincing 28-5 victory over Meridian last Friday night at Jacket Stadium.
“The turnovers are what cost us the game Friday night,” Meridian football head coach Jim Kerbow said. “Bruceville-Eddy capitalized on those turnovers and momentum swung the Eagles way most of the night due to those costly mistakes.”
This week, the Jackets (0-1) take on the Class 2A, DI’s Malakoff Cross Roads Bobcats (0-1) at 7 p.m. Friday at Jacket Stadium. With 16 returning lettermen including six offensive and five defensive starters, the Bobcats lost their season opener on the road to the Atlas Home School Rattlers, 55-12.
Led by four-year starting quarterback Riley Brown, Dave Campbell’s Texas Football predicts Cross Roads could challenge for the fourth playoff spot in District 8-2A, DII behind 23rd-ranked Frankston, Corsicana Mildred and Kerens, battling Cayuga and Prince Carlisle.
“We have a great opportunity to take care of business this week and get the win,” Kerbow said. “However, we will need to clean up mistakes from last Friday night if we want to be successful.”
The Meridian offensive unit struggled to get anything going against Bruceville-Eddy, and four turnovers were converted into Eagle points. Senior running back Ian Gomez led the Jackets with 43 yards rushing on 15 carries, while junior lineman Bradley Perry was selected as the offensive MVP by grading out at 80 percent with five knockdowns and three pancake blocks.
“We struggled blocking on the perimeter,” Kerbow said. “We had missed assignments on the offensive line, which caused us to struggle moving the ball.”
Despite having their backs up against the wall for much of the game, the Jacket defense made Bruceville-Eddy earn their points. Meridian’s defensive MVP senior Jesus Martinez collected five tackles, two for a loss, and one quarterback pressure, while Gomez led with seven tackles, followed by junior Jesse Scott with six and sophomore Josh Nunez with five.
“Defensively, we played well at times,” Kerbow said. “But we had several busted assignments, which unfortunately lead to touchdowns.”
Other Jackets recognized for their efforts included special teams MVP Matty Jones, who averaged 45.0 yards on five punts, and freshman Brandon Allen as practice player of the week, who gave Meridian a “great look defensively and great hustle.”
“There were too many turnovers to pinpoint one turning point,” Kerbow said. “I think it was the culmination of turnovers, missed assignments, not being able to put the ball in the end zone in red zone.”
WORTHAM 22, VALLEY MILLS 14
In a season-opening clash that came down to the fourth quarter, an interception returned for a touchdown proved to be the difference as the Valley Mills Eagles fell to the Wortham Bulldogs, 22-14, at home last Friday night.
“The kids played hard and had a chance to win in the end,” Valley Mills head coach Bob Featherston said. “But we made too many mental mistakes.”
Looking to turn their fortunes around, the Eagles (0-1) will hit the road to take on the Class 2A, DI’s 24th-ranked Holland Hornets (1-0) at 7 p.m. Friday. Picked by Dave Campbell’s Texas Football to finish second in District 14-2A, DI behind ninth-ranked Mason, the Hornets knocked off Class 2A, DII’s 25th-ranked Burton, 32-21, on the road last Friday night.
“Holland has a really good group of kids,” Featherston said. “They will be another team that is senior-led with playoff experience and a winning tradition. It’s going to be a great challenge for us, and we need to be better every week.”
After battling to a scoreless tie in the first half, the Eagles got on the scoreboard first as junior Jasean Johnson powered his way into the end zone on a two-yard run. Johnson finished the game with 87 yards rushing on 21 carries, while sophomore quarterback Blayne Griner completed 11 of 25 passes for 143 yards, connecting with junior Jacob Garcia four times for 70 yards.
Following the first score of the game, Valley Mills cashed in for the two-point conversion to take an 8-0 lead. But it proved to be short-lived as Wortham (1-0) responded with 14 unanswered points on two touchdown runs to take a 14-8 advantage early in the fourth quarter.
Valley Mills rallied for another scoring romp from seven yards out, but this time the two-point conversion failed, leaving the score knotted up. The Eagle defense came up with a stop of Wortham, but the Bulldogs responded with the game-winning turnover.
Junior Cooper Wolf led Valley Mills with nine tackles, followed by senior Fred Sadler with seven, as well as Garcia with six takedowns and a fumble recovery.
“Offensively, we stopped ourselves with penalties and busts on assignments,” Featherston said. “We must get more disciplined and learn responsibilities. Our defense played well, swarmed to the ball and limited big plays. But there’s still a lot of improvement needed to keep high level offenses under control.”
Photos by WENDY OROZCO
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