Penalties come back to bite Jays
SOUTH CENTRE TWP. — Central Columbia, looking for offensive answers all night, looked like it finally had one late in the first half.
Quarterback Parker Day hit Alex Shultz for a 26-yard completion, setting the Blue Jays up nicely to cut into the Raptors' two-score lead. Shultz had to fall to his knees to make the play, looking as if he were making a prayer.
Maybe he should have.
On the ensuing play, Tahir Edmondson read Day's pitch to Aidan Huntington perfectly and returned it 99 yards for a touchdown.
The Raptors held on for an 18-6 win in an ugly all-around game for both teams.
"I feel bad for Parker. I don't know if the kid wasn't looking or if he wasn't ready, but he hesitated," Central coach EJ Smith said. "As soon as he hesitated, he got hit and the ball flew out."
Shultz was clearly frustrated for not being able to score on the play, but the disappointment was nothing compared to Smith's at the end of the game.
Time after time, the Blue Jays shot themselves in the foot with fouls, getting penalized 17 times for 157 yards. It didn't kill many explosive plays for the Jays, but it did extend drives for the Raptors and, more importantly, kept Central from frequently moving the chains. The Jays were called for offensive fouls six times, including four false starts.
The biggest penalties of the night never came back to hurt them when Raptors quarterback Zion Broke got hit late out of bounds. The Jays were penalized for such as well as an unsportsmanlike after the two teams had to be separated as things got chippy between the players.
"The personal fouls, that stuff is obvious. My message to the kids is 'listen, if you want to turn this around, you have to stop thinking about yourself and start thinking about the team," Smith said. "It simply comes down to that. Period."
A pair of explosive plays — a 30-yard completion to Jaiden Perez and a 15-yard completion to Tahir Edmondson — did come back to hurt Central. They set Sylis Styles up for his 2-yard touchdown run up the middle.
The Raptors then capitalized on a short field on their next possession, using five plays to drive 46 yards. Styles punched it on an 11-yard sweep left, diving after the pylon for his second touchdown.
"Their skill kids are very fast, very good and we knew that coming in," Smith said. "That quarterback is a heck of an athlete, but penalties hurt us tonight and we can't have that. I thought our defense played well despite that."
Central, which was quick to the ball all night, got interceptions from Huntington and Shultz and was helped by a high snap late in the fourth quarter.
The Blue Jays held the Raptors to 5.2 yards a play (both passing and rushing) and outgained them by nearly 30 yards. Much of that success came on the ground thanks to Ty Regan's 100-yard performance on 14 carries and Day's 45-yard keeper for the Jays' only score.
"They executed well on offense at times, but you can't have the penalties like that," Smith said. "If we scored down there [Parker Day's fumble], it's a touchdown game. Then with Parker's run, it's all of a sudden, we're not playing catchup.
"We just have to start thinking about the team and not ourselves. If we do that, we'll be alright."
The Raptors were also heavily flagged for the contest, coming away with 15 for 124. They too, had a late hit out of bounds on Day in the fourth quarter.
Remembering Dennis
Before Friday night's game, Central Columbia held a moment of silence in remembrance of former football coach Scott Dennis.
Displaying an image of Dennis on the field's newest scoreboard, the PA announcer mentioned some of Dennis' success with the Jays, including the team's three trips to the playoffs during his tenure.
Dennis passed away unexpectedly just days before he was set to coach in his first season at his alma mater at Nanticoke. He previously coached the Blue Jays.
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