COLUMBIA - It took just four plays for the Jefferson City Jays to cross the goal line against the Hickman Kewpies.
The Jays marched 40 yards to the end zone against the Battle Spartans in seven plays.
The closest they got to scoring against the host Rock Bridge Bruins was the 30-yard line.
It was a mixed bag of results for the Jays on Friday night in the Jamboree.
"They've always got great players and they're well coached and and our kids have got to get better," Jays coach Terry Walker said of the Bruins.
Jefferson City finished the night 0-1-2, tying Hickman and Battle at 6 and falling 12-0 to Rock Bridge. No PATs or 2-point conversions were attempted.
The Jays took a deep shot to open the night against Hickman, resulting in a 36-yard connection from Cole Gresham to Devin White down the left sideline.
Three plays later, Gresham pounded his way into the end zone for a 1-yard score to cap the 40-yard drive.
Jefferson City then turned it over on downs and reached the 14-yard line on an 11-yard run by backup quarterback Max Hanrahan to complete the 12 plays allotted.
"I thought Cole did some good things," Walker said. "And I think for the most part during the summer and then during the fall he has read really well. I thought he had a couple missed reads this evening, but I think Cole is going to do just fine at quarterback for us."
The Jays turned Hickman over on the Kewpies' first offensive play when linebacker Jake Duke recovered a fumble.
But the Kewpies found the end zone right after when the Hickman quarterback sprinted left and then back right for a 40-yard score.
"We saw some busted assignments and we saw some mistakes in execution," Walker said.
The Jays then stiffened on defense, keeping the Kewpies out of the end zone thanks to a Kevion Pendleton interception in the end zone.
"I like the secondary group that we have," Walker said. "We've got five or six kids that are capable of doing a couple different things for us, which I think is going to give us an opportunity to challenge some teams a little bit more."
Linebacker Nick Williams also recorded his first of three sacks on the night against the Kewpies.
"Nick didn't play last year and we're so thankful that we have Nick this year," Walker said. "And Nick is a kid who just goes hard and we tell the kids every day in practice, 'Man, you're going to play like you practice' and Nick is a kid that practices hard. I'm not surprised at all that he came out here this evening and he made some plays both offensively and defensively."
Rock Bridge went to the ground for a pair of touchdowns against the Jays. Bryce Jackson plowed over one defender on his way to a 19-yard score and Peyton Carr found room on the outside on an 11-yard scoring run.
The Jays turned it over on downs and threw an interception before Gresham made it to the 30-yard line on a 7-yard scramble on the Jays' final play.
Against Battle, David Bethune showed off his speed with a 27-yard burst that helped set up Gresham for a 3-yard touchdown run.
The big play burned the Jays late in Battle's turn on offense when a toss play turned into a 40-yard score along with sideline.
But the Jays did turn the Spartans over on downs when linebackers Bryant Gipe and Frank Gilmore teamed up for a stop on fourth-and-8.
"Compared to where we were last year effort-wise we're better," Walker said. "We're better and that's good because you can't be consistently successful unless you're consistently going as hard as you possibly can."
The Jays will open the regular season next Friday at Kirkwood, a new district foe this season for Jefferson City in Class 6 District 3. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.