Fresh off its first win since the end of the 2017 season, J.Z. George High School returns to action Friday night as it takes on the Lions of Hamilton High School.
Kickoff is set for 7 in Hamilton.
The Jaguars opened their 2019 campaign with a 20-0 weather-shortened victory over McAdams High School last Friday. The game was called with about 10 minutes remaining on the clock as severe weather worked its way through North Carrollton.
“The stigma of losing 11 straight can now be put behind us so that we can focus on the next opponent,” said J.Z. George head coach Ben Burton. “We moved the ball pretty good on the ground. Our two backs ran the ball well. As far as the defense goes, our effort was there as far as getting to the football. We held McAdams to 48 yards of total offense and created four turnovers. We had zero turnovers. I’ll take those numbers every game.”
After a scoreless first quarter, the Jaguars put 14 points on the scoreboard in the second period. Fullback Jacob Johnson ripped off a 33-yard TD scamper, and sophomore tailback Deriaun Townsend ran in from 19 yards out. Wil’Tavious Williams kicked both PATs to give the home team a 14-0 lead at the half.
In the third frame, Townsend broke loose for a 54-yard touchdown run. The 5-11, 205-pounder finished the night with 181 yards on 21 carries. With the success the Jags were having running the ball, he could have easily broke the 200-yard mark had the contest not been called because of the weather.
“I probably would have given him the ball five or six more times in the fourth quarter. If we had scored a fourth time, I was going to take the starters out and let some younger kids play,” said Burton. “We left some guys unblocked. We’ve got to work on getting a hat on a hat and give our two backs an opportunity to run the football. We ran 43 plays against McAdams.
“We still have a lot of work to do. I just want to see us get better from week one to week two. Our play-action passing game wasn’t good at all. We weren’t deceiving anybody. Our passing game is not where it needs to be. I want to be able to throw the ball effectively. I’d like to see us complete 70 percent of our passes. It’s not always the quarterback. The line has to do a better job of pass blocking and the receivers have to run their routes better. There is still a lot of work that has to be done.”
Johnson, a junior, finished with 104 yards on nine carries. Quarterback Jordun Normal was 2-of-6 for seven yards. Malik Branch had one catch for five yards.
The defense was led by Williams, a junior end. He finished with eight solo stops and two assists. D’Anthony McGlothan chipped in with four solos, two assists and a fumble recovery. Branch, who had two assists, also had an interception. Keyshawn Daniels had a solo and two assists, and Quientirus Purnell had three total tackles and a fumble recovery.
Hamilton started its season with a 35-7 loss to Hatley.
“I know they are going to be a lot bigger than us up front. We won’t do anything fancy. We just want to line up and get better at what we do,” said Burton.
