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N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – The Jamestown High School Blue Jay football team broke a four-game losing streak Friday night and claimed their second victory of the season by defeating AAA West foe Williston High School by a 28-18 score.
The Blue Jays (2-6, 2-3) were led by a rushing attack that accumulated 178 yards on the ground, including touchdown runs of 41 and 35 yards by senior quarterback Matt Grounds on the Jays’ opening and closing offensive drives of the game.
Grounds couldn’t shake the turnover bug that has plagued him at times this year, losing one fumble and throwing two interceptions in the contest, but did finish with a team-high 88 yards rushing and 83 yards passing as well. He threw his eighth touchdown pass of the season on a 26-yard strike to senior wide receiver CJ Soulis with 5:07 left in the first half.
Jamestown jumped out to a 6-0 lead just 1:13 into the game thanks to an option keeper that sent Grounds into the end zone. Williston (1-7, 0-5) quickly responded with 9:19 to go in the first quarter on a Paul Michaelson 55-yard touchdown scamper to knot it up 6-6.
Soulis’ TD catch with 5:07 left in the first half gave the Blue Jays a 12-6 advantage, which would lead Jamestown into halftime.
Senior linebacker Jordan Weil proved to be in the right place at the right time with 7:19 to go in the third quarter deep in Williston territory when he pounced on Williston 2011 All-State quarterback Markus Noeske’s fumble that rolled into the end zone. That gave the Jays an 18-12 advantage.
Late in the third quarter, after a false start penalty backed them into a fourth-and-six situation rather than fourth-and-inches, Grounds converted a 28-yard field goal to put Jamestown ahead 21-12 with 0:23 remaining in the third quarter.
Jamestown fumbled the football deep in their own territory mid-way through the fourth quarter, and the Coyotes cashed it in on a short field thanks a to a three-yard Michaelson TD run, bringing the score to 21-18 with 7:54 remaining in the game.
The Blue Jay defense held up though, holding Noeske to just 6-12 for 37 yards in the second half, including an interception on a potential scoring drive in Blue Jay territory.
Late in the fourth quarter, Grounds needed to gain just two yards to get a first down and ice away the game, but found a seam up the middle and took it in for a 35-yard TD run, converting the PAT on top of that. It would give the Jays a 28-18 lead with 0:16 left in the ballgame — which would end up the final score.
The Blue Jay offense, despite five total turnovers, finished the game with 261 yards of total offense. The defense forced four total Coyote turnovers and held them to 189 yards of total offense, including just 67 yards on the ground in the second half.
Jamestown will finish its regular season Wednesday at Ernie Gates Field in Jamestown when they host Minot at 7 p.m.