by Rusty Ellis
The Cumberland County Jets earned their first win of the 2022 season with their 7-0 victory over the Livingston Academy Wildcats on Friday.
A low-scoring game from the jump, the Jet defense was put to the test early on and stopped the Wildcats twice on fourth down attempts to flip the field.
4:42 Q1
Livingston puts together a long drive to start the game, but CCHS stuffs a 4th-and-2 run to take over on the 11.
LA 0
CCHS 0 pic.twitter.com/ENJQebUczY— Rusty Ellis (@RustyEllis_) October 8, 2022
It wasn’t until the last Cumberland County possession of the first half that a team would break the seal on the scoreboard, as the Jets scored on a one-yard quarterback sneak from Bryson Wilson.
This gave the Jets a 7-0 lead heading into the locker room, along with all the momentum from the first half.
7.4 seconds Q2
We have points. Bryson Wilson sneaks it in from the one and CCHS takes a 7-0 lead right before half over LA.
LA 0
CCHS 7 pic.twitter.com/ov6ggd6tZV— Rusty Ellis (@RustyEllis_) October 8, 2022
On their first possession of the second half, CCHS rode the legs of Drayton Hairston all the way down to the Livingston Academy 12-yardline, but a 29-yard field goal attempt was just wide and the score remained 7-0.
That was all Cumberland County needed however, as their consistent pressure on LA quarterback Brodey Coffee prevented him from getting the ball to any of his receivers downfield. When the final buzzer sounded, it was the Cumberland County Jets who earned their first win of the 2022 season in 7-0 fashion over Livingston Academy.
It was the culmination of all the hard work head coach Noah Repasky’s team and staff has put in over the course of the season, and he had nothing but positives to rave about on Friday night.
“It’s been a long time coming,” Repasky said. “We’ve had a couple we thought we let get away from us earlier in the year, but tonight, I can’t say enough about how the defense played. That’s what won us the game tonight.”
The pressure the Jets were able to put on Coffee was even more impressive considering the Jets only rushed three for a majority of the game. This led to all the receivers being covered up due to the eight men dropping in coverage, and Repasky says he just tried to do his best to keep his guys fresh up front.
“Our three guys up front did a phenomenal job,” Repasky said. “They did a good job of making life hard on (Coffee), and he didn’t have all day to throw even with us dropping eight…you’ve got to get pressure on the quarterback, and they did a good job of also getting him down. That’s the really important part.”
Make no mistake, however. Repasky will enjoy this win, though he was quick to remind his guys that they have a matchup with Jackson County coming up in two weeks after their bye week.
For his team to make this a winning streak, Repasky knows they’ll need to be more consistent on the offensive side of the ball.
“We’ve got to get the ball rolling on offense,” Repasky said. “We had a dropped touchdown pass and a missed field goal, so we missed some opportunities there…our defense made some big strides tonight, so now it’s time for our offense to take their next step. We’re going to have to score some points, keep playing good defense and win in the special teams.”
