By MICHAEL CHILDERS, CJ Correspondent
Commonwealth Journal
Somerset —
After opening the year up with a 52-0 loss to Bowling Green and a 23-7 setback to cross-town rival Somerset, everyone wondered when Southwestern was going to win a game.
Well, the time to quit wondering is now, as the Warriors silenced all of their critics last night with a dramatic 37-30 victory over East Jessamine in the second annual Don Marshall Bowl at Pulaski County High School.
Thanks to late-game heroics from juniors Zack Turpin and Alan Williams, the Warriors were able to pick up their first win of the season over the Jaguars of East Jessamine.
With the contest knotted up at 30-30, Dale Anderson’s club got the ball back after a Jaguar touchdown run. The Warriors had 59 yards to go and 3:50 to do it. The Warriors got all the way to the red zone thanks to a personal foul call after a late-hit on Williams and a Latrell Wilson 21-yard reception.
With 28 ticks left on the clock, Turpin found Williams for a gain of five yards. The next play, Turpin was sacked for a loss of nine yards. The junior quarterback then spiked the ball, leaving 20 seconds on the clock.
The next play turned out to be the game-winner for the ‘Blue and Orange.’ Turpin got the snap from center Christian Childers, then scrambled to the left side of the field, where he received excellent blocks from the offensive line of Willie Dungan, Dalton Wilson, Childers, Trent Massey, and Robby Lewis. The junior slung one in the air in the direction of Williams. Williams was able to make a spectacular diving catch while falling down with an East Jessamine defender right on him. Southwestern’s number 16 hauled the ball in for the 15-yard touchdown catch, putting the Warrior ahead 36-30 with 14 seconds left to play. Kicker Logan Starnes added the extra point, giving Southwestern a seven-point lead at 37-30. Turpin and Williams hooked up a total of three times on the drive, but nothing came close to that final catch.
For the Warrior head coach, it was simple how the play ended.
“Alan wanted it, so Zack threw it to him,” stated Anderson.
Turpin knew that Williams would be there to make the game-winning grab.
“I knew the rush was coming, I knew I had to get rid of (the ball), and I knew if I got the ball up in the air, Alan’s going to come down with it,” said the Warrior quarterback. “Alan’s a playmaker.”
As for Williams, he didn’t exactly know what was going to happen on the winning play.
“I was very nervous - very, very nervous,” explained Williams. “I don’t know how I caught it. Turpin made a good throw.”
On the ensuing kick-off, the Jaguars tried a little trickery, but the Warriors made the stop with six ticks left to play. On the final play of the game, Jaguar quarterback David Powers hurled one down the field, landing right into the hands of safety Logan Starnes. The interception ended the game, giving the Warriors their first victory of the 2010 season, and in fine-fashion.
The Southwestern head man was proud of the whole Warrior program last night.
“I was awful proud of the kids,” Anderson praised. “The kid’s played great, and I’m proud of my coaching staff. They worked really hard to turn things around.
“We played a good team tonight. We didn’t play great - we gave them touchdown after touchdown.”
Things didn’t start out as great as they ended for the Warriors, as Mike Bowlin’s club simply ran right past the Southwestern defense.
East Jessamine’s Cameron Thomas finished the contest with a total of 286 rushing yards and scored all four of the Jaguars’ touchdowns - a pretty good night of football for the junior.
In the first quarter, Thomas had a pair of touchdown runs for 61 and 49 yards, respectively. The two scores ran East Jessamine out to a 15-0 advantage less than five minutes into the contest.
Cody Mote put the Warriors on the board with 1:19 left to play in the opening stanza, as the senior flipped over the Jaguar defense and into the end zone for the one-yard score. A Williams two-point conversion run lessened the Jaguar lead to 15-8.
Mote came up big again for Southwestern late into the second quarter. With 3:54 remaining until halftime, Mote scampered 59 yards down the field, while breaking tackle after tackle, for the score. On the PAT attempt, a fake field goal pass from Williams to Zack Fowler put the Warriors ahead 16-15, a lead that wouldn’t last long.
With 1:19 left until the break, Thomas found pay dirt on a 15-yard touchdown run. After a Tom Falin two-point conversion run, East Jessamine took the lead 23-16.
The Warriors were not to be out done, however. With seven seconds left in the opening half, Turpin found a wide-open Dustin Powell standing in the end zone for a touchdown. Starnes’ successful PAT tied the game up at 23-23, which would be the score at the break.
Neither team could punch the ball into the end zone in the third quarter of play, leaving the score knotted up at 23 apiece heading into the fourth and final quarter. The Warrior defense was a totally different animal in the second half, contributing a whole lot to the Warrior victory.
The ‘Blue and Orange’ made the Jaguars pay for a mistake on a punt, giving the ball back to the Warriors. Turpin would fly right past the East Jessamine defense for a 40-yard score. After a PAT from Starnes, the Warriors now led 30-23 with 4:46 left in the contest.
Thomas and East Jessamine would not go down without a fight, as the junior scored on a 50-yard run. The PAT from Jared Cobb was good, tying the game up at 30-30.
Nonetheless, the game ended with the Turpin to Williams touchdown pass, sending the Warrior faithful home from PC Field excited, with a 37-30 win over the Jaguars in the second edition of the Don Marshall Bowl.
The Warriors racked up 326 yards on the night after struggling to move the ball down the field in their first two games of the season. Turpin went 11 of 24 for 131 yards and two touchdowns in the air for Southwestern. On the ground, the quarterback had 60 yards and a score on six attempts. Mote finished the night with 85 yards and two scores. Williams pulled down eight receptions for 82 yards and a touchdown, while being named the ‘Player of the Game.’
East Jessamine had a huge offensive night in the loss, finishing the game out with 427 total yards, as more than half of their yards came from Thomas. Powers went four of eight in the air for 89 yards, while rushing for 31 yards. Cobb, the kicker, missed two crucial field goals on the night.
Southwestern recovered four fumbles in the contest, with recoveries coming from Fowler, Lewis, Wilson, and Powell.
The Warriors, now 1-2 on the year, will travel south of the border to the Volunteer State next Friday night to take on Scott County.
EJ 15 8 0 7 - 30
SW 8 15 0 14 - 37
FIRST QUARTER:
EJ - Thomas 61 run (Powers to Thomas 2-pt. pass)
EJ - Thomas 49 run (Cobb PAT)
SW - Mote 1 run (Williams 2-pt. run)
SECOND QUARTER:
SW - Mote 59 run (Williams to Fowler 2-pt. pass)
EJ - Thomas 15 run (Falin 2-pt. run)
SW - Turpin to Powell 25 pass (Starnes PAT)
THIRD QUARTER:
NO SCORING
FOURTH QUARTER:
SW - Turpin 40 run (Starnes PAT)
EJ - Thomas 50 run (Cobb PAT)
SW - Turpin to Williams 15 pass (Starnes PAT)
PASSING:
EJ- Powers 4-8 89 INT
SW- Turpin 11-24 131 2 TD 2 INT
RUSHING:
EJ- Thomas 19-286 4 TD
SW- Mote 10-85 2 TD
RECEIVING:
EJ- Fox 2-53
SW- Williams 8-82 TD
