DCS Gators get by Madison Jaguars, 38-28

Tallulah – There is an old saying in high school football I’ve heard people say for years.
It goes, “You can call holding on almost every play.” It seemed like that adage was true during the third quarter of the Delhi Charter Gators game against the Madison Jaguars last Friday night. The Gators managed to survive 105 yards in penalties and claimed the 38-28 road victory.
“I’m not really sure about that third quarter,” Delhi Charter Head Coach Brett Raley commented after the game. “We took the 16 point lead and had the ball but it seemed like we had penalties on every play and they got back in the game. Our kids gutted it out and scored on our last possession to get the win and that’s all that matters at this point.”
Madison fumbled the opening kickoff but DCS gave it back three plays later on Mason Hale’s fumble. The Jaguars opened the scoring quickly on the third play from scrimmage on a 62-yard pass from quarterback Kevin Jones to Myles Barnes. DCS finally got on the scoreboard midway through the period on a 39-yard run by Azavier Stubblefield. The conversion run failed leaving the score tied at six.
Late in the quarter, the Gator’s Michael Woods blocked a punt which was recovered by J’Quan Polly at the Jaguar 4-yard line. However, Mason Hale’s TD run was called back on holding and Joshua Poland fumbled on third down to end the drive. Madison was driving on the ensuing possession, but Delhi Charter’s Martez Allen stepped in front of Jones pass and raced 40-yards for the score to give the Gators the lead 14-6 after Chester McDaniel’s conversion run.
Jones scored his first rushing TD of the night for the home team with under three minutes left in the half and his 2-point conversion run tied the game at 14. However, with just under a minute remaining, Hale lofted a perfect pass down the home sideline to Poland and he scampered 45 yards to paydirt. Hale ran for the conversion and DCS had a 22-14 lead at the half.
Polly got things started off on the right foot for the Gators as he returned the second half kickoff 61 yards down to the Jaguar 18. Gator fullback Trenton Jinks’ first carry of the night covered the 18 yards and Poland added the conversion run for a quick 30-14 lead. Thanks to six penalties on Delhi Charter, the score stayed that way until Madison began its comeback with just over nine minutes left in the fourth quarter.
Jones, who is being recruited by ULM, took over for the Jaguars. He had passes of 20 and 15 yards and runs of 12 and 5 yards on the drive that covered most of the real estate to get his team back in the ballgame. It looked like he succeeded in bringing the Jaguars all the way back as he scored his third rushing TD of the night with five minutes left in the game to cut the DCS lead to two, 30-28. But DCS’ defensive line and linebackers responded as Jones was stopped on the conversion run which allowed the Gators to maintain the lead. Jones finished the night as the leading rusher in the game with 157 yards on 21 carries and he added 90 yards passing as well.
The Gators got the ball at the 39 after Polly’s 17-yard return and then Jinks and Hale took over the rest of the drive down to the Jaguar 25 with 1:26 left on the clock. Chester McDaniel took his only carry of the drive and sprinted to the endzone and added the conversion to seal the win. Jinks finished the night as DCS’ leading rusher with 13 carries for 71 yards, while Stubblefield added two carries for 46 and McDaniel chipped in 39 yards on four rushes. Hale finished the night 3 of 4 for 80 yards and the TD.
“I wasn’t happy with all the penalties or how we didn’t put the game away earlier in the half,” Raley added. “However, I was happy with how we answered on that last drive and responded. That’s what we have to build on right now.”
DCS will return to the Swamp this Friday to take on the OCS Eagles. The Gators are winless at 0-7 against the Eagles who will be smarting as they were beaten 35-0 by Sterlington this week. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. Friday night.