JAY – Eager to prove that last week’s struggle wasn’t about to happen again anytime soon, Jay took advantage of some early game miscues by Boothbay and went on for a 35-20 Campbell Conference victory over the Seahawks on Friday night at Taglienti Field in Jay.
The first miscue came on the game’s second play from scrimmage, when Boothbay’s running back Pat Norton fumbled after a short gain. The Tigers pounced on the ball on the 11-yard line.
It took Jay one play to score as Trevor McCourt raced in for a quick 7-0 lead.
“It was a nice way to start the game,” said Jay Coach Mark Bonnevie.
The Seahawks came right back with their best offensive performance of the night. Starting with the ball on their own 22, the Seahawks drove the length of the field behind the crisp passing of quarterback Roy Arsenault.
Arsenault was a very Tom Brady-like 7 for 9 for 77 yards on the drive. He finished the drive with a nifty 11-yard scoring pass to Pat Norton.
The Tigers responded with a quick five-play scoring drive that covered 57 yards. The key play on the drive was a 15-yard shuttle pass to Ryan Bourassa. Zane Armandi rushed 8 yards for the touchdown to give the Tigers some breathing room.
Once again, Boothbay was victimized by a miscue. Lined up to punt, Roy Arsenault tried to run for the first down, but Jay stopped him for no gain.
Again needing just five plays to score, McCourt found the end zone from 9 yards out to give Jay a commanding 21-6 advantage.
Jay defensive back Nick Bourassa intercepted an Arsenault pass and returned it 25 yards to the Boothbay 1 to set up McCourt’s next touchdown, which gave the Tigers a 28-6 halftime lead.
“The kids adjusted to the way he (Arsenault) was throwing the ball.” said Bonnevie.
Boothbay tried to mount a comeback with a long-scoring strike early in the third quarter when Arsenault found Norton over the middle with a short pass. Norton broke clear and streaked untouched down the sideline for a 92-yard scoring pass play.
Jay’s final score came early in the fourth quarter on another turnover when Mike Holland intercepted a pass and ran it back 25 yards for the score.
“We just didn’t get it done tonight,” said Seahawk coach Time Rice. “Jay was the better team tonight.”
McCourt finished with 88 yards on 19 rushes and three touchdowns before leaving with leg cramps in the third quarter.
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