By Stan Veitch/Sports Correspondent
Football is a game of numbers.
In Thursday’s 20-7 Colbert County win over Glencoe in the first round of the Class 3A playoffs, there was one number that really stood out.
The Indians (8-3) gained 309 yards, while the host Yellow Jackets (9-2) managed only 177, including just 62 on the ground.
“We weren’t ready and I take the blame for that,” Glencoe coach Lee Ozmint said. “The kids played their hearts out, so I take responsibility for the loss. We couldn’t get our read game going and a lot of that was because of what (Colbert County) was doing.”
Things went south in a hurry for the Yellow Jackets. On the second play of the game, Colbert County came up with a fumble recovery. The Indians needed only two plays to score on a 39-yard touchdown pass from Tyler Jeffries to Keandre Smith. Kearvae Qualls ran in the 2-point conversion for an 8-0 lead at 10:42 of the first quarter.
Glencoe responded with a three-and-out, but Colbert County used up most of the rest of the first quarter with a 17-play drive that stalled on the Yellow Jacket 3-yard line.
Midway through the second quarter, the Indians had a 15-play drive that ended with a 1-yard touchdown run by Qualls, who was ejected after the play for unsportsmanlike conduct. The 2-point conversion pass failed, leaving the Indians with a 14-0 halftime lead.
“Our defense played outstanding,” said Colbert County coach Dale Jeffreys. “Our defensive coaches had a great game plan. We did a great job of stopping the run, and I’m really proud of that because Glencoe has a great run game.”
Glencoe had its chances, with Taylor Daugherty grabbing a fumble in the second quarter and Aaron Bush intercepting a pass in the third quarter.
The Indians scored their final touchdown on a screen pass to Justice Aycock that turned into a 33-yard scoring play at 9:10 of the fourth period.
Glencoe got on the board with 3:32 left in the game on a 33-yard touchdown pass from Chase Wilson to Aaron Bush.
Wilson was 5 for 20 in passing for 100 yards. He also was the Yellow Jackets’ top rusher with 33 yards on 16 carries. Aaron Bush had three receptions for 67 yards, while Dalton Robert caught two passes for 42 yards.
Noah Hauk led Glencoe in tackles with 17, followed by Austin Bush with 12 and Pace Ozmint and Coleman Morris with 10 each.
For the Indians, Tyler Jeffreys completed 9-of-18 passes for 177 yards. Qualls ran 17 times for 59 yards, while Aycock finished with 49 yards on 20 carries.
