August 23, 2014
East Prairie spoils Kelly's varsity opener
sports@standard-democrat.com EAST PRAIRIE -- History was going to be made one way or the other. Kelly's story began by simply walking on the field and playing it's first-ever varsity football game. Though a win would have sweetened Kelly's debut, East Prairie erased nearly a half-decade worth of rotten season openers...
By Chris Pobst - Standard Democrat
sports@standard-democrat.com
EAST PRAIRIE -- History was going to be made one way or the other.
Kelly's story began by simply walking on the field and playing it's first-ever varsity football game. Though a win would have sweetened Kelly's debut, East Prairie erased nearly a half-decade worth of rotten season openers.
Deverence Jones scored two touchdowns to lead the Eagles to a 29-7 victory over Kelly Friday at East Prairie High School and won its first season opener since 2009.
The Eagles also put the clamps on an eight-game losing streak dating back to last season which saw just one win.
"We met most of our objectives," Jones said about winning their first game. "We still have a couple things to work on but I think it was a good start to the season."
East Prairie, who had a record of 2-28 the last three seasons, ran for 226 yards and quarterback Brett Ellis passed for another 107. Jones scored twice in the first quarter -- a 15-yard run and a one yard reception -- to put the Eagles on top early.
"We had several backs touch the ball, we threw the ball a little bit and I think defensively we played a great game," East Prairie head coach Chad Jamerson said. "We challenged our boys and they answered the call."
East Prairie played the role of spoiler when it comes to Kelly's sideline.
Three years of preparation and two years of junior varsity football came to fruition when Kelly began Friday's game with it's first varsity kickoff. The play was heightened when Kelly junior Maurice Davis recovered the unintentional onside kick nearly 30 yards away.
The first play from scrimmage, however, was a rude awakening to the varsity level. Halfback Matthew Burford fumbled during Kelly's first running play and East Prairie recovered. Five plays later, Jones rushed into the endzone.
"We're glad to get some experience and see what varsity speed is all about," Kelly head coach Kenneth Riedinger said. "We've got to block, tackle and hold on to the football. But, we'll get better at those things. It's a process and we knew that going into it. Even though we're disappointed we tried to prepare for a win. It's going to be a long road to hoe for us."
Jones added to Kelly's slow start with his second touchdown of the night during East Prairie's next drive. He leaped for a one-yard reception to give the Eagles a 15-0 lead with 3:38 left in the quarter.
"He's a special kid and we know that," Jamerson said about Jones. "We try to check his touches and make sure he gets a good number."
Jones finished with 86 rushing yards on six carries leading an East Prairie running core that split touches with three others.
Ellis was East Prairie's second leading rusher with 62 followed by Adrian Soto's 38 and T.J. Shands' 32.
"We've got a couple guys out there that can give me three and four yards every carry and that opens up Deverence (Jones) and Mack (Marcum) and I feel that gives us great balance," Jamerson said about his offense. "That's something we haven't had in a while here. We've evolved a little bit on offense and that's the direction we're headed."
Getting East Prairie's offense off the field was Kelly's biggest obstacle. The Eagles ran a total of 53 offensive plays and a total of 64, including penalty plays. Kelly ran off 39 plays for a total of 82 yards and three first downs.
"We've got to get off the field," said Riedinger. "We stopped them a bit and gave them some trouble. When they're on the field that much you're going to have a tough time scoring. We'll continue to improve on offense. It's there. It's just not very clean right now."
Kelly added to their record book in the second quarter.
Atoning for his first carry blunder, Burford ran in Kelly's first rushing touchdown with 2:14 left in the second quarter. The Hawks put together a 2:09 drive that began on East Prairie's 34-yard line. Burford barreled in from five yards out stretching just enough before he hit the ground to break the endzone plane. Junior Aaron Graham kicked in the PAT to cut East Prairie's lead to eight.
"I'm not going to lie, I was nervous coming into this game," Jamerson said about Kelly. "This was a game that worried me because I think coach Riedinger does a great job with his team and Kelly has some awesome athletes. We respected them because we knew they were dangerous."
East Prairie added another score before the first half came to a close when Soto punched in a three-yard scamper. Ellis converted the two-point run giving the Eagles a 23-7 lead at halftime.
During the second half, East Prairie was able to do what they want to do as an offense -- keep possession.
For 17 minutes and 23 seconds, the Eagles had control of the ball during the last two quarters adding a one-yard touchdown run by Ellis to seal the win. Kelly had four second half drives that all ended with a punt, two of which were blocked.
"That's the gameplan for us," Jamerson said. "We don't want you with the football. We're going to win the time of possession game. That's obscene for a spread team like us but that's our gameplan. I want to milk every second I can off the clock because I feel the best defense for us is a good offense."
Burford was Kelly's leading rusher with 48 yards on 11 carries. Huffman had three receptions for 44 yards and quarterback Kyle Fitzgerald was 8 for 18 with 37 yards.
"We felt like we could come out and run the ball," Riedinger said. "We got behind the eight ball and had to start throwing it. In a varsity game they're bringing some heat on you and we've got a sophomore quarterback and it shows itself at times. He'll get better at that and not panic so much."
"The effort's there," Riedinger added. "East Prairie just didn't run down the field on us. We'll held them and made them have to drive it. From that perspective, that's good for a first game. We know we've just got to keep getting better."
Kelly 0 7 0 0 -- 7
East Prairie 15 8 0 6 ---- 29
First Quarter
E -- Deverence Jones 15 run (Brett Ellis run), 7:43
E -- Brett Ellis pass to Deverence Jones (Chad Housman kick), 3:38
Second Quarter
K -- Matthew Burford 5 run (Aaron Graham kick), 2:14
E -- Adrian Soto 3 run (Ellis run), 0:29
Fourth Quarter
E -- Brett Ellis 1 run (kick failed), 6:27
TEAM STATISTICS
K EP
First downs 3 14
Total yards 82 333
Rushes-yards 21-45 38-226
Passing yards 37 107
Comp.-Att.-Int. 8-18-0 9-15-0
Fumbles-lost 2-2 4-1
Penalties-yards 9-39 11-90
Turnovers 2 1
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing -- Kelly, Matthew Burford 10-48, Ethan Faires 2-5, Brenton James 4-12, Maurice Davis 1-6, Kyle Fitzgerald 4-(-26). East Prairie, Brett Ellis 9-62, T.J. Shands 8-32, Deverence Jones 6-86, Adrian Soto 11-38, Damien Killion 1-2, Blayn Goodding 2-2, Marcus Lewis 1-2.
Passing -- Kelly, Kyle Fitzgerald 8-18-0 37. East Prairie, Brett Ellis 9-15-0 107.
Receiving -- Kelly, Dalton Huffman 4-44, Matthew Burford 3-(-8), Trey Bolen 1-1. East Prairie, Blayn Goodding 1-21, Deverence Jones 2-8, Mack Marcum 3-39, Adrian Soto 2-29, Marcus Lewis 1-10.
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