Jaguars ground Falcons, 17-10

The Northridge Jaguars and Central Falcons met on Friday night for WVUA’s Game of the Week and it lived up to expectations. Even though the Jags led the entire game after scoring on the opening drive of the game, Northridge was never out of reach of the Falcons. The Falcons did help the Jags out a few times, dropping a couple of potential touchdown passes and incurring penalties that wiped two Falcon touchdowns off the board. The Jags put together a time-consuming ground game and the defense came up with some crucial stops at key times to keep Falcons out of the end zone until the last 40 seconds of the game. Additionally, the Jags, after giving up 10 turnovers in their first four games, had ZERO turnovers to Central. The end result was a much needed region win over the Falcons, 17-10.

Things got off to a promising start at the Ridge when the Jags took the opening kick and marched down the field to score on their opening drive of their first home game of the regular season. After establishing an effective drive on the ground, Rowdy Christensen pulled up and hit a wide open Colin Kapilovic for a 30-yard chat-and-run touchdown pass. Caleb Scofield tacked on the PAT, giving the Jags a 7-0 lead with 7:14 to go in the first quarter.

After trading punts on ensuing possessions, Central had a long touchdown run erased from the scoreboard due to an illegal blindside block. Eventually, the Jags defense stopped the Falcons on a fourth down conversion attempt, handing the ball to the offense at their own 9-yard line. The result of that stop was the Jags’ second scoring drive of the game. The drive saw the Jags convert two third down attempts, and get a big run by Keith Powell to pick up a first down, that helped move Northridge into position for Scofield to sail a 45-yard field goal through the uprights as the horn sounded to end the first half. That field goal boosted the Jags to a 10-0 halftime lead.

The Falcons showed some spark, returning the opening kick of the second half to their own 43. However, the Jags defense held the Falcons to force a punt the rolled dead at the Jags’ 10-yard line. The Jags moved the ball, but were eventually forced to punt. It looked like the Falcons were going to close the gap when they returned the Jags’ punt for an 85+ yard touchdown. However, once again, the Falcons had six points wiped off due to a block in the back during the run and placing the ball at the Falcon 37-yard line.

The Falcons didn’t fold, putting together a drive that saw the Falcons convert a fourth down with a pass that put the ball on the 5-yard line for a first and goal. The third quarter ended with the Falcons having made it to the Jags’ 1-yard line. On the first play of the fourth quarter, Cruz Lee brought down a Falcon runner at the 2-yard line that gave the Falcons a fourth-and-goal there. An incomplete pass in the end zone handed the Jags the ball at their own 2-yard line with 11:08 to go in the game.

Things didn’t go well for the Jags on the resulting possession, which ended with the Falcons getting a safety. With 9:35 to play, the Falcons were looking at a one-possession game at 10-2.

The resulting free kick gave the Falcons the ball at the Jags’ 47-yard line. The Central drive ended when a fourth down conversion pass attempt hit the grass, giving the Jags the ball at their own 31.

The ensuing drive saw Powell make another first down gaining run to keep the Jags offense moving with 5:51 to go. The drive culminated with a Brylon Tubbs touchdown run, right up the middle of the Falcon defense. Scofield added the PAT, giving the Jags a 17-2 lead with 3:13 remaining on the clock.

The Falcons ensuing drive consumed a lot of the clock, with the Falcons getting a long touchdown pass with 37.3 seconds remaining. There was some drama for the 2-point conversion try, when a Falcon ran onto the field late. After some heated protest, a flagless penalty for illegal motion was assessed on the Falcons. The resulting unsuccessful run incurred a horse collar on Northridge. The end result was a successful 2-point conversion run for the Falcons. That score put the Falcons to with seven, at 17-10.

The expected onside kick looked to be recovered by the Falcons. However, it was determined that the ball was illegally touched before traveling the required 10 yards, resulting in the Jags being awarded possession. From victory formation, Christensen downed the ball and the horn sounded for a 17-10 home opener WIN for the Jags.

The Northridge Jaguars (4-1, 1-1) will host Class 4A Bibb County Choctaws (4-1, 2-0) next week at The Ridge.