Most coaches will tell you there are no such things as moral victories, but Friday night in Brooklet head coach Jared Zito was proud of his team, despite falling to No. 5-ranked Calvary Day, 28-24. The Yellow Jackets held a lead against last year’s region champs before yielding a late fourth quarter touchdown and losing by four points.
“Our effort was outstanding and our performance in certain areas was great,” Zito said. “I am very proud of our team for believing the whole game that they could beat these guys and trusting each other. I thought our secondary played outstanding and I felt our running backs and offensive line played really hard.”
The Cavs opened the scoring but the Jackets responded with a short touchdown pass from Colton Zito to Colby Smith to tie the game at 7-7 at the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, the Jackets drove the ball all the way down to the eight-yard line when Smith was hit at the goal line and coughed up the ball. The referees ruled the ball went through the end zone and Calvary took over at the 20-yard line.
Ca’den Jones capped the ensuing Calvary drive with a 10-yard run. The Jackets responded with a play that brought the home crowd to their feet. Zito handed the ball to Smith who chucked the ball from his own five-yard line to a wide-open Tyrone McGee at the 45-yard line. McGee would then outrun the defenders for an 85-yard touchdown and tied the game at 14-14.
Smith wasn’t done with his heroics as he picked off a James Mobley pass at the SEB 43-yard line and returned it all the way to the Cavalier 25-yard line. The Jackets added a Thomas Edge field goal to go into the half with a 17-14 lead.
In the third quarter, Mobley found Jaden Hicks for a 35-yard touchdown as the Cavs took a 21-17 lead, but the Jackets responded. Jayden Murphy took off on a 43-yard run to the 15-yard line. Smith capped the scoring drive with a one-yard score for a 24-21 Jacket lead.
The lone score in the fourth came as Mobley danced around and found some room to run, scoring on a 10-yard scramble for the final points of the game.
“Our run defense and penalties hurt us and we had two turnovers that probably really cost us the game,” Zito said. “We have definitely gotten better. That same team was beating us 28-0 in the first quarter a year ago. I am proud of what we did tonight and what we can be. It hurts to lose when you get that close and can’t close it out, but valuable lessons come sometimes in a loss.”
Next up, Southeast Bulloch will host Johnson Friday at 7:30.
