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The football adage “The game is won or lost in the trenches” was evident Friday in Saint Francis Catholic Academy’s 32-13 loss to Auburndale Jordan Christian Prep.
The Wolves (0-4) only attempted nine passes in the home game, with both touchdowns coming on the ground from sophomore quarterback Jake Long.
The humid night began with an explosive play early when Jordan Christian Prep (2-1) opened the scoring with a 66-yard punt return for a touchdown by sophomore Stephen Bell just two minutes and 39 seconds into the game.
The Seahawks lead 6-0 after a punt return touchdown from #2 Stephen Bell #SFCAvsJCP pic.twitter.com/JsVVJC67pa
— Sam Gold (@samuelagold) September 6, 2024
The Wolves reset and rebounded with a scoring opportunity, including a key fourth-down conversion in the red zone to extend the drive. Long punched in his first score of the night on a 12-yard QB keeper just three plays later to cap a seven-minute drive to put the Wolves up 1.
The trickery then began, as Wolves’ coach James Langham went with a gutsy onside kick to retain possession, leaving the Seahawks special teams stunned and unprepared.
“Being aggressive and catching this tough JCP off guard with chances like that will give us an extra possession, which could mean the difference in a close game like this one.” – Saint Francis Catholic coach James Langham
SFCA also boasted a strong first-half defensively, as it recovered two fumbles before scoring its second touchdown on a fourth-and-goal conversion at the 6:03 mark of the second quarter. This was the last score for the Wolves, with the second half telling a much different story.
Jordan Christian Prep started the second half on a much different note than where it left off, wasting no time by scoring a kick-return touchdown by Bell once more just 27 seconds into the second half.
The Seahawks’ defense stopped two drives from SFCA before taking its first lead of the game off a 20-yard reverse by Bell that gave him a hat trick on the night.
Saint Francis had a chance to regain the lead, but its effort was to no avail when Long fumbled on the 11th play of a drive just four yards from the end zone. The Wolves’ struggles continued on the defensive side, as they failed to make a stop on third-and-15, instead allowing yet another huge play by Bell for a 68-yard gain.
Bell is back at it again, breaking a huge gain on the 3rd down conversion. #SFCAvsJCP pic.twitter.com/l0LnRx56AA
— Sam Gold (@samuelagold) September 7, 2024
The fatigue set in for the Wolves’ defense, as it missed three tackles en route to a 20-yard rushing touchdown by the senior quarterback Tyh-yae Cooper to put the Seahawks up 25-13 with only 3:21 remaining in the game.
The game-sealing play came just 1:40 later when senior defensive back Kallis Knowles picked off Long for a second time, this one he returned for a touchdown to finalize the margin of victory for Jordan Christian Prep.
“When we needed to make the plays we needed to make in the clutch, we simply couldn’t. This was a close game just like last week, but we couldn’t stay focused and close the game out when it mattered … We’re a young team and we need to learn how to build off our momentum and battle adversity. We’re going to get back to the basics in practice and hope to strengthen our tackling and improve our discipline. We’re going to fix our problems and keep our mindset on our remaining six games” – Wolves’ coach James Langham
Up Next
Saint Francis will head to Spring Lake in hopes of rebounding against Bishop McLaughlin Catholic Hurricanes (1-2). Jordan Christian Prep hopes to keep momentum while tasked with another away game, this time making the trip to LaBelle to face the Labelle Cowboys (3-1).
