WINNSBORO – The Richard Winn Eagles went into Friday night with an opportunity to clinch a SCISA 8-man Region title, but in their way was a very tough Jefferson Davis Academy team, and its star running back Jimmy Bozard. Bozard clocked 246 yards for his fourth consecutive games with more than 100 yards rushing, and JDA outlasted the Eagles, 30-16.
An eager Richard Winn defense waits to see if Raiders’ running back Joey Bozard attempts to run it up the pipe again. | Photos/Lee Holsclaw
“He’s good, he runs hard,” Richard Winn head coach Paul Brigman said of Bozard. “He’s not a big kid, but he’s a really hard runner, and it’s easy to tell why he’s racked up so many yards this year. He runs behind a really big and really good offensive line as well.”
Both offenses got off to a sluggish start, and neither team could post a first quarter score, but Jefferson Davis turned on the jets in the second. A Richard Winn field goal was blocked at the end of the first, and Jefferson Davis turned the Eagles’ mishap into a long scoring drive.
They marched the ball down the field 64 yards, mainly on the legs of Bozard and fullback Trent Jamison. It would be Raiders’ quarterback Wyatt Brant that ended the drive with a six-yard keeper.
Jefferson Davis attempted an onside kick after the score and the Eagles managed to field it, but the fielder was flattened by the Raiders special teams. The brutal hit jarred the ball loose and Jefferson Davis recovered at the Richard Winn 41.
“I think we let ourselves get in a hole early,” Brigman said. “We got a stop our first series and then the second time they got the ball, they scored a touchdown. Then they onside kick us, get the ball and score there. So we kind of had a 14-point swing right there within just a couple of minutes.”
Richard Winn honored their senior cheerleader, Cassie McKeown, and football players Peyton Gilbert (3), Jonny Edenfield (2) and Ethan McManus (15) at their final home game of the season.
Again, the Raiders turned a Richard Winn misfortune into more points. Jefferson Davis nearly fumbled the ball on the ensuing drive, but they recovered and a few plays later Jamison scored from a yard out.
Bozard rushed the ball in for the two-point conversion, and the Eagles trailed 14-0. Richard Winn’s offense had another shot at some points on the next drive after taking the kickoff return to midfield.
A big defensive holding call helped move the Richard Winn up 10 yards, and then Zack Taylor pinned on a 12-yard rush to drive within the Raiders 30. They chipped away at the Raider defense until they were inside the 10-yard line, but eventually the drive fizzled out with a turnover on downs.
Another Eagles’ turnover on downs left Jefferson Davis near midfield with 45 seconds before the end of the first half. Bozard opened the drive with a 15-yard rush and followed it up with another first-down run, but it was JDA’s passing game that came through big.
Wyatt Brant tallied his second touchdown of the game, firing through the air with a big 22-yard pass to Samuel Frederick. Bozard scored another two-point conversion, and the Raiders marched into halftime with a 22-0 lead.
Richard Winn opened the half with an impressive drive that once again landed them deep inside Jefferson Davis territory. However, the drive stalled out, and the Eagles committed another turnover on downs deep in enemy territory.
“They did some things that we had not seen this year, not even when we played some of the better teams,” Brigman said of the Raiders’ stifling defense. “I would definitely say that defensively they’re better than anybody we played yet.”
The Raiders converted this turnover on downs into a 90-yard drive, and Donte Payne finished the drive with his first touchdown of the night. After the one-yard touchdown, Bozard converted his third two-point conversion.
s the third quarter was winding down the Eagles began another march towards the end-zone. They finished the third quarter at the Raiders 22-yard line, but at the beginning of the fourth Jefferson Davis picked off a Zack Taylor pass.
The Eagles put up a couple of late touchdowns, courtesy of a nine-yard Zack Taylor keeper and a 34-yard Taylor touchdown pass to Johnny Edenfield, but the deficit was too much.
Jefferson Davis clinched the region title with the win, and the loss sends Richard Winn to 6-3 on the season with a 2-1 regional record. They close out the regular season at King Academy.
“One of our goals was to win the region, but that’s kind of gone away now, so we have to focus on our other goals that we have left for the year,” Brigman said. “Which is making the playoffs, getting a home game in the playoffs and, of course, winning the state championship, so we’re hoping this is going to kind of be a wakeup call.”
SCORING
JDA:-0-22-8-0-30
RWA: 0-0-0-16-16
Second Quarter
JDA – Wyatt Brant 6 run (Jimmy Bozard run failed). 5:44.
JDA – Trent Jamison 1 run (J.Bozard run). 1:12
JDA – Samuel Frederick 22 pass from Wyatt Brant (J.Bozard run). :06.
Third Quarter
JDA – Donte Payne 1 run (J.Bozard run). 2:26.
Fourth Quarter
RWA – Z.Taylor 9 run (Z.Taylor run). 8:14.
RWA – Johnny Edenfield 34 pass from Zack Taylor (Zack Taylor pass to Ethan McManus). 3:04.
INDIVIDUAL STATS
RUSHING: RWA- Brandon Miller 3-5, Zack Taylor 15-79, Wil Carvalho 1-0. JDA – Wyatt Brant 6 – (-1), Jimmy Bozard 34-246, Trent Jamison 20-77, Donte Payne 1-1.
RECEIVING: RWA- Wil Carvalho 1-3, Peyton Gilbert 1-5, Brandon Miller 4-17, Jimmy McKeown 8-62, Johnny Edenfield 1-34, Noah Edwards 3-30. JDA – Samuel Frederick 1-22.
PASSING: RWA – Zack Taylor 17-26 151 yards, one touchdown, one interception. JDA- Wyatt Brant 1-2, 22 yards, one touchdown.