Story, Photos and Video by Rusty Ellis
The Jackson County Blue Devils trailed 7-0 at halftime, but a second-half surge that saw them score 19 unanswered points led to a 19-7 victory for Jackson County over Livingston Academy on Thursday night.
Livingston took the lead early with 44.1 seconds remaining in the first quarter, as Lochlan Hammock scored from a couple yards out to give the home team the lead.
44.2 Q1
Lochlan Hammock gets the scoring started with this touchdown.
LA 7
JC 0 pic.twitter.com/UhCzgs45FR— Rusty Ellis (@RustyEllis_) September 23, 2022
The game remained this way until the third quarter, as both defenses traded stop after stop before Jackson County scored on its opening drive of the second half. Jordan Arroyo scored out of the backfield from 15 yards out, though a missed extra point maintained Livingston’s lead.
At the end of the third quarter, the Wildcats led just 7-6.
6:30 Q3
Jordan Arroyo carries it in from 15 yards out to get Jackson County on the board. PAT is blocked, LA maintains their lead.
LA 7
JC 6 pic.twitter.com/73IUxl4Dke— Rusty Ellis (@RustyEllis_) September 23, 2022
The Blue Devils took the lead for good with their first play of the fourth quarter, as quarterback Hayden Stacy took the ball two yards to the house to give Jackson County a 12-7 lead after a failed two-point conversion.
Arroyo salted the game away with a 10:44 left in regulation, as he broke free for a 62-yard touchdown run to put the score at the final margin of 19-7 in favor of the visiting Blue Devils.
The loss dropped Livingston’s record to 0-5, while the Blue Devils improved their record to 2-3 for head coach Sean Loftis.
While the offense broke through in a big way in the second half, Loftis was quick to point out how his defense kept his team in the game.
“They all played well, I thought we gave up some easy plays early on,” Loftis said. “I felt like we contested more plays in the second half, and over a four quarter period of time, we got a lot of pressure on the quarterback. I feel like we did a good job on the back-end of not letting them get in behind us.”
Trailing 7-0 at the break, Loftis said he simply told his team that they were prepared for everything that they were seeing and that the game was well-within their reach.
“We knew exactly what defense we were getting, we just didn’t execute in the first half,” Loftis said. “We made some adjustments up front, and I told them all week that I thought we were better than them up front…I think it showed throughout the second half. Defensively, we controlled their run game for the most part.”
The big plays from Arroyo ultimately helped Jackson County create some separation on the scoreboard, and all it did was make Loftis wonder what might’ve happened if he had started playing football sooner.
“I would love to know how good he could’ve been if he had played for four years,” Loftis said. “That was his time to shine in the second half…him and Hayden Stacy just rode the horses up front, and when he gets in the open field, there’s not many kids that are going to bring him down.”
Jackson County will head to Maplewood for their next contest on Sept. 30, while Livingston Academy will head to DeKalb County.
