Saturday, September 30, 2017

SL Wins "War On 24" This Time

From the Capital-Journal:
SILVER LAKE — There was never a doubt in Mason Jones’ mind that he would play in Friday night’s War on 24 showdown with arch rival Rossville.

The question was, how effective would the Silver Lake senior tailback be? Bothered by a hip injury that limited him to just three carries two weeks ago against St. Marys and only 20 carries all season, Jones has been slowed considerably after coming into the season as the Eagles’ leading returning rusher.

“The past couple of weeks, it’s really affected me,” Jones said. “Tonight I just got over it.”
Even with a depleted backfield missing junior Christian Stoner, who was lost for the season with an injury a week ago, Silver Lake didn’t lean too heavily on Jones to carry the offensive load. But when Jones got his chances, he made the most of them.

Jones busted touchdown runs of 45 and 28 yards for the only scores in Silver Lake’s 14-0 victory. The big plays sparked a season-best and career-high 158-yard night and a stout defensive performance pushed the No. 3 Eagles to 5-0.
“I just tried to make the most of it when I get it,” Jones said. “I run when I get it and try to score as much as I can.”
Scoring was at a premium Friday night as both teams delivered defensively. Silver Lake generated 408 yards of total offense, but saw two turnovers and 110 yards in penalties negate much of the work. Rossville, meanwhile, managed only 191 total yards and never got inside the Silver Lake 20.
Twice in the second half, however, the Bulldawgs came close. Down 6-0 at halftime after Jones’ 45-yard score with 3:13 left in the first half, Rossville opened the second half with its best drive of the game, moving from its own 25 to the Silver Lake 21.
But on a first down at the 21, Sheldon Hulbert was picked off by Silver Lake’s Keenan Baird at the 3, denying the threat.
It was the first of three big defensive stops by Silver Lake in the second half.
On Rossville’s next possession, the Bulldawgs faced a fourth-and-inches at the Silver Lake 38, but Hulbert was stopped for no gain. After Jones scored with 4:57 left in the game on a 28-yard run, Rossville tried to get a quick answer, driving to the Silver Lake 26.
But the Eagles forced four straight incomplete passes from Hulbert to thwart the threat and seal the win.
“What I was impressed with was Rossville got off to a pretty good start and got some offensive rhythm and we responded to that,” Silver Lake coach C.J. Hamilton said. “We got hit in the mouth a little bit and I thought we turned it up pretty good from there.”
Despite moving the ball well in spurts, Rossville never could quite make the one play it needed to break the ice. The shortcomings spoiled a solid defensive effort that saw the Bulldawgs bend plenty, but only break twice on the big runs by Jones.
“I’m proud of my group because I thought we played hard and executed what we wanted to do for most of the night,” Rossville coach Derick Hammes said. “The game in my view came down to a couple of missed plays which were opportunities for us. Our margin for error is not great, so we needed a break and make a play on a couple occasions. We made some huge strides defensively, we possessed the ball and were able to execute some things, but couldn’t punch it in the end zone when we needed to.”
Mason Griffin threw for 155 yards for Silver Lake, while Hulbert finished with 164 combined rushing and passing yards.
Rossville (1-4)     0 0 0 0 — 0
Silver Lake (5-0)  0 6 0 8 — 14
SL — Jones 45 run (kick failed)SL — Jones 28 run (Baird pass from Griffin)
GAME IN FIGURES
                     … Ross     … SL
First downs     … 13       … 18
Rushes-yards  32-105 … 33-253
Passing           … 86     … 155
Comp-Att-Int  12-29-2      14-25-1
Punts            … 5-30.6 … 5-30.6
Fumbles-Lost  … 0-0      … 1-1
Penalties-Yards   5-33 … 11-110
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Rossville: Daughty 2-1, Hulbert 22-78, Johnson 4-10, Sowers 4-6. Silver Lake: Jones 17-158, Griffin 7-11, Byers 4-29, Baird 1-6, J. Boyd 4-49.
PASSING — Rossville: Hulbert 12-29-2, 86 yards. Silver Lake: Griffin 14-25-1, 155 yards.
RECEIVING — Rossville: Daughty 4-23, Blair 2-5, Carver 3-18, Johnson 1-6, Sowers 3-28, Sumner 1-6. Silver Lake: Byers 5-46, Byrne 3-41, Heiman 5-64, Baird 1-4.


 QB Sheldon Hulbert looking for an opening in the defense at Silver Lake
 Sheldon trying to evade pass rush
Sheldon passing against Silver Lake

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