By Staff
IN THE POCKET – Central Academy's Ross Brown looks to pass against Oak Hills Academy during Friday's football jamboree. PHOTO BY PAULA MERRITT / THE MERIDIAN STAR
By Ryan Satcher
staff writer
Sumter Academy and Lamar came into the jamboree at Newton County Academy hoping to get in some extra action before the regular season. They got the extra action but also came away with two victories.
Seven teams participated in the jamboree on Friday night. Each team played two 12-minute quarters on the night. The games were played much like a real game except there was no kicking.
According to Newton County Academy head football coach Brian Sims, the jamboree was successful.
The Raiders of Lamar won the "game" of the night 6-0 over Winston Academy and then beat Sylva-Bay Academy 14-0 later in the night. More importantly, Lamar got some action against another team.
The Raiders were able to score on their first possession against Winston to take the lead. Lamar started with the ball on the 30-yard-line and couldn't move the ball on the first two plays. Then Drew Moffett threw a pass to Monroe Mayfield. The pass was deflected but Mayfield kept his concentration and was able to catch the ball and break free deep into Winston territory.
A few plays later Moffett scored on a keeper. The two-point conversion failed and Lamar led 6-0.
Lamar held Winston and again moved the ball into Patriot territory but was stopped and turned the ball over on downs.
Winston used a great play-action pass from Pat Peterson to Joe Buck Peterson to move into Lamar territory with 34 seconds left but could not score.
Against Sylva-Bay Academy, Lamar once again scored on its first possession. On the second play from scrimmage Moffett broke loose for the long score to give Lamar a 6-0 lead with 11:13 left.
Lamar moved into Saint territory once again on its third possession. Lane Rush broke a long run to get the Raiders into good position. Two plays later Moffett found Randy Boyd Thompson in the endzone for an eight-yard touchdown pass. Moffett passed to Rush to give the Raiders the two-point conversion and a 14-0 lead.
Sylva-Bay moved into Lamar territory against the second-team defense and reached the three yard-line but could not score.
Sumter Academy also beat Winston Academy 6-0 and then beat Newton County Academy 14-6.
Sumter scored on its first possession against Winston Academy. Sumter worked the ball down the field and finished the drive when Andrew Poole scored on a four-yard run with 6:17 left. The conversion failed and Sumter led 6-0.
Sumter Academy moved the ball into Winston territory on its second possession but ran out of time.
Sumter also scored on its first possession against Newton County Academy. On the third play from scrimmage, Chase Schroeder broke free and went all the way from the long score. Chad Schroeder carried the two-point conversion in to make the score 8-0.
After a penalty set Sumter back five yards on its second possession, Chase Schroeder again broke free for a long touchdown. The conversion was no good and Sumter led 14-0.
NCA scored on a one-yard run by Justin Blackburn with 1:53 left to play. The play was set up when Lee Blackburn fought for a first down at the Sumter Academy one yard-line on a fourth-down run.
Oak Hill finished the jamboree 1-0-1. The Raiders dominated Central Academy 22-0 and then tied Sylva-Bay Academy 0-0.
Oak Hill scored on a one-yard run by Jacob Washington with 5:53 left to play. The two-point conversion made the game 8-0.
Justin Davis grabbed a bad pitch by the Central Academy quarterback and carried it in with 5:02 left to play to make the score 14-0.
Oak Hill also scored on a run by Chad Scott. The two-point conversion was taken in by Jake Jolley to make the final 22-0.
Sylva-Bay Academy held Oak Hill within the five yard-line on three straight plays to keep the score 0-0 in Oak Hill's other quarter of play. The Raiders also moved into Saint territory with seconds to play but came up just short and the final was 0-0.
In the final quarter of the night, Central Academy threatened to score and beat Newton County Academy but couldn't push the ball across. The Vikings moved inside the five, but a holding call pushed Central Academy back. The quarter ended up tied 0-0.
The teams will be back in action next Friday night when the regular season starts.