STAFF REPORT
South Adams may have struck first, but the home Flying Jets had the last laugh as Adams Central made very few mistakes and cruised in the second half to a 42-6 victory over the rival Starfires to proceed to the sectional semifinal next week.
Featured in our game of the week, both teams were ready to play from the get-go and Owen Wanner hit Wes Summersett for a long, 63-yard gain on the game’s opening drive. That led to a touchdown by Colton Bollenbacher and the Starfires had the early lead with just 90 seconds off the board.
It was all Adams Central after that however, as the South Adams Starfires gained a total of 51 yards of offense the rest of the way and never threatened to repeat the success of their opening drive.
Unlike many games earlier this season, the Jets relied heavily on Keegan Bluhm in terms of numbers of carries, with the senior running the ball a season-high 29 times. The move came with good reason, because the powerful running back ended up with 162 yards and a pair of scores.
A pair of interceptions by the Jets set up Adams Central with good field position and the ability to score quickly, and they did just that.
Aaron Hirschy’s 53-yard run came less than two minutes after Bluhm’s first touchdown and put the Jets up for good. Hirschy finished with 111 yards on just seven carries. He also punched it in from 19 yards on the final play of the third quarter.
As they’ve done so many times before, the Jets used the pass successfully as a surprise and it was indeed that same strategy that led to Jack Hamilton’s only passing attempt, a 40-yard score to Cam Smith in the third quarter.
Everything else was on the ground, to the tune of 429 yards of rushing offense on the home grass of Rick Minnich Field.
Jack Hamilton tallied 96 yards rushing on 12 attempts and scored from 13 yards out in the second quarter.
Bollenbacher finished with 31 yards on 11 carries and his opening score. He shared the team lead in tackles with Conner Fear.
Wanner was 4 for 11 for 88 yards. The Jets forced Wanner to punt five times.
Trevor Currie made all six PATs, an area of the game where the Jets have really excelled.
Cam Fravel had another standout game defensively, leading the Jets with six tackles.
For the Starfires, the season ends with a 6-4 record. Besides the two losses to #2 Adams Central, the Starfires were also defeated by Heritage and Bluffton, teams receiving votes in the 3A and 2A polls, respectively.
The Jets will now head to Southwood, where they opened last year’s state tournament with a 56-14 victory. This will be the fourth year in a row that the two teams have met for a sectional contest. The Jets have outscored the Knights in those games by a combined score of 126-42, although Southwood did eliminate AC back in 2020.
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