Semoball

Welker, Turley pace Jackson to W over Farmington

Cael Welker looks to pass against the pass rush of Farmington Friday at The Pit in Jackson.
Tony Capobianco ~ Tcapobianco@semoball.com

Senior quarterback Cael Welker connected with junior receiver Kannen Turley for three touchdown passes to pace the Jackson Indians in a 56-14 victory over the Farmington Knights on Friday at Jackson.

Welker threw for 230 yards and four touchdowns while rushing for 23 yards and a touchdown. Turley was his top target of the night, leading the team with five receptions for 112 yards.

“Kannen did a great job catching the ball,” Jackson head coach Brent Eckley said.

There was only a 10-run difference between the two teams in terms of rushing, but the Indians offense accounted for all of the passing yards in the game, with 252. In the battle of the unbeatens, the Indians proved their superiority.

“We just came ready to play,” Turley said.

Farmington drew first blood as senior quarterback Kaden Files led the charge on their opening drive with a 65-yard run to get into the red zone. After multiple attempts to rush the ball inside, Files eventually punched it in for the first touchdown of the game.

The Indians responded with a six-yard rushing touchdown by senior running back Daniel Dickerson and a 50-yard touchdown pass from Welker to junior receiver Turley in the following drive to take a 14-6 lead.

A blocked punt by Jackson put the Indians offense in great position to pad their lead. Welker once again connected with Turley for 15 yards and his second passing touchdown of the night, giving Jackson 21-6 first quarter lead.

The Indians defense continued to stuff the Knights and give their offense easy opportunities to score. This time it was sophomore running back Tony Willams’s turn to reach the end zone. He marched down the field and scored on a two-yard rushing touchdown, which pushed the Jackson first half lead to 28-6. Williams finished the game with a team leading 95 yards.

After throwing for two touchdowns in the first quarter, it was time for Welker to score on the ground. Seeing the hole like a wide open tunnel, he rushed 25 yards to the corner of the end zone.

After finally stopping the Indians offense, the knights responded with a long run by Braden Botkin to set up a one-yard rushing touchdown and two-point conversion to cut the deficit to 35-14. Botkin finished the game with a team leading 113 yards.

The Indians offense went undeterred throughout the third quarter. After Welker threw his third touchdown pass to Turley, senior receiver Rhet Liley caught a nine-yard reception and strolled his way into the end zone for his first touchdown of the night, pushing the Jackson lead to 49-14.

Joshua Wehrenberg finished the Jackson scoring with a two-yard touchdown run deep into the fourth quarter.

Files led the Knights with 83 rushing yards but his only two passing attempts fell incomplete.

So far this season, the only time Jackson (7-0) scored fewer than 50 points in a game was the season opener when the Indians defeated Fort Zumwalt West 49-13. They head on the road next week to face Cardinal Ritter.

Comments
Respond to this story

Posting a comment requires free registration: