Interceptions lead Battle to 54-35 win against Jefferson City

Jefferson City teammates Alex Burkhead (right) and Tyler Johnston (center) pressure Battle quarterback Harrison Keller during Friday night's game at Adkins Stadium.
Jefferson City teammates Alex Burkhead (right) and Tyler Johnston (center) pressure Battle quarterback Harrison Keller during Friday night's game at Adkins Stadium.

A fumble recovery late in the third quarter could have been a turning point Friday night for the Jefferson City Jays.

But Battle's defense put a damper on the hope for a comeback with a pair of fourth-quarter interceptions as the Spartans defeated the Jays 54-35 at Adkins Stadium.

"There's a point in the game where you've got to trust what you've practiced doing," Jefferson City coach Terry Walker said. "You've got to trust the guy to your right, trust the guy to your left and you just have to execute, do your job on that play."

Bryant Gipe, who missed the previous two games with a concussion, recovered a fumbled snap with 2:50 remaining in the third quarter to give the Jays the ball at their own 23-yard line with the score 34-21 in favor of Battle.

That recovery came a play after William Henderson intercepted a tipped pass and returned it 9 yards to the Jefferson City 15.

"We've had difficulty all year creating turnovers," Walker said. "We got a couple turnovers tonight but we're just not creating enough turnovers. And a lot of that is we've had kids that are really scrambling to try and, fundamentally, do their job to protect their gap and we're not focused on the ball quite as much as what we should be."

Cole Gresham completed a 22-yard pass to Devin White and Darrell Jones made an over-the-shoulder catch down the home sideline for a 40-yard touchdown.

Ben Folz added his fourth of five extra points to cut Battle's lead to 34-28 with 32 seconds left in the third quarter.

The game began to turn in favor of the Jays as they forced a punt, but Kendrick Harris picked off a Gresham pass and Darren Jordan scored from 19 yards out on the third play of the ensuing drive.

Quarterback Harrison Keller ran in for the 2-point conversion to make it 42-28 with 7:07 left in the game.

The Jays did add a 40-yard pass from Gresham to David Bethune to make it 42-35 with 4:18 left, but Keller got free for a 61-yard keeper and Trevonne Hicks returned an interception for a touchdown to seal the victory.

"You only get so many possessions in a game and when you're throwing interceptions or fumbling kickoffs, you're losing possessions, and you can't do that and expect to be successful," Walker said.

The fumble Walker referenced led to the final lead change of the game.

Clayton Campbell recovered a fumble on a kickoff return and Jordan scored from 4 yards out on Battle's four-play, 16-yard drive for a 26-21 lead with 5:58 left in the third quarter.

Jordan's next score went for 78 yards at the 3:37 mark.

Jordan ran it 29 times for 226 yards with five touchdowns.

The teams were tied at 14 at halftime.

Bethune scored on a 50-yard run for a 7-6 lead in the first quarter and added a 4-yard run for a 14-6 lead in the second quarter.

Tavian Miller, a receiver, made it 6-0 Battle on a 23-yard touchdown run and Jordan added a 15-yard score in the second quarter.

The Jays led 21-14 with 8:15 left in the third quarter after Devin White caught a 14-yard pass from Gresham in the end zone.

Jordan got Battle within 21-20 at the 7:06 mark of the third quarter with a 34-yard touchdown run.

Jefferson City (2-6) will host Rockhurst next Friday. Game time is 7 p.m. at Adkins Stadium.

The Hawklets (5-3) defeated C.B.C. 31-14 on Friday at home.

Battle (5-3), ranked 10th in Class 5 in the latest Missouri Media Rankings, hosts Hannibal (5-3) next Friday.

Note: Jays senior lineman Brandon Backues was taken off the field on a stretcher early in the third quarter and taken to University Hospital in Columbia. "They they took some precautionary steps to make sure that he was going to be OK and wasn't going to experience further injury," Walker said. "I'm hopeful that he'll be all right."