DANE FUELLING
WZBD.com
When a team doesn’t punt, never reaches fourth down and commits no turnovers, there’s little chance of losing.
That’s exactly what the #2 Adams Central Flying Jets did Friday night against their biggest rival, South Adams, scoring on every true possession they had in a 48-0 thumping of the Starfires at Rick Minnich Field.
Jack Hamilton tossed two touchdown passes and was 4 of 6 for 115 yards and ran for 48 himself as he directed the Jet offense down the field on seven possessions, all of which ended in touchdowns.
Hamilton hit Trevor Currie for three of those completions as the senior gained 101 yards and scored twice.
The game seemed to be heading down a different path initially, with South Adams stringing together short passing plays with quick throws from Owen Wanner, but the drive stalled just short of the red zone. Wanner’s 37 yards passing on the opening drive accounted for a big chunk of the Stars’ total offense (116 yards) at the end of the night.
Keegan Bluhm carried the ball 15 times for 109 yards and a pair of scores to lead the AC ground attack, including the opening score of the game from one yard out with three minutes left in the first quarter. He also scored from two yards out in the third quarter when he sidestepped a few tacklers and went to his left for another touchdown.
Aaron Hirschy had 76 yards and scored twice, as well. He scored from 18 yards out in the second quarter and then went untouched from eight yards on the Jets’ first drive of the third quarter to trigger the running clock.
There were two big sacks in the game for Adams Central that cost Wanner 15+ yards, with one coming from Cam Fravel and the other from Max Kaehr. Kaehr led the Jets with five tackles along with Tester.
Ryan Tester touched the ball just six times but gained 65 yards on the ground.
Colton Bollenbacher was the Stars’ leading rusher with just five yards on six carries. Wanner completed 11 passes for 97 yards.
Derek McKean led the Starfires with five catches for 65 yards.
Currie’s 16-yards catch went for a score early in the second quarter and he had the biggest play of the game just before halftime, catching the ball in the flat and scampering 48 yards down the left sideline towards the fireworks crew.
Jaret Smith created the games’ only turnover, picking off Wanner just before halftime, allowing the Jets to kneel inside the ten to run off the clock. It was, technically, the only drive that did not result in a touchdown.
With both teams playing reserves late in the game, Jamison Roach showed his skills as backup QB and navigated around his blockers for an eight-yard score with five minutes to play.
Currie made all six of his extra point attempts. Perhaps the only flaw in the Jets’ game was a botched extra point on the final score, leaving the game with its 48-0 score.