Streak continues: Sikeston loses to Jackson for 10th straight time

Sikeston's Keane Atkins (22) is tackled by Jackson's Tony Terry Jr. (3) Friday, Sept. 30, 2022, at Sikeston Public Schools Stadium. (David Jenkins/Standard Democrat)

SIKESTON — It was a night of milestones and accomplishments for Jackson in a 68-13 win at Sikeston on Friday.

The Indians (4-2) won their 10th straight in the series, clinched a fifth consecutive SEMO-North Conference and head coach Brent Eckley recorded the 100th career win at JHS.

“I was proud with how the team played,” Eckley said “They did a good job competing. We were physical with our tackling and blocking and we wanted to get better as the game went on. I thought we did that in several areas.

“[The 100th win] just makes me think about the people I’ve been lucky enough to work with here at Jackson,” Eckley continued. “I’m blessed to be the coach at Jackson and I’ve been in some fortunate positions where people have been patient and supportive so that we had the opportunity to establish the program. We’ve had great parents that helped contribute to the success of the program. I’ve also been very fortunate to have great assistant coaches.”

Jackson quarterback Zach Calder was surgical with his passing, completing 11-of-13 attempts for 169 yards and two touchdowns. The first score came on the Indians’ opening drive of the game when he connected with Isaiah Davis for a 30-yard score to take a 7-0 with seven minutes and 45 seconds left in the first quarter.

Then in what seemed like a blink of an eye, Jackson put the game well out of reach.

The Indians recovered an onside kick on the ensuing kickoff after a Bulldogs’ penalty moved the ball up 15 yards, and three plays later Calder ran up the middle for a one-yard touchdown.

Fisher Evans intercepted a pass on Sikeston’s next drive and freshman Carter Shipman carried it in for a 10-yard touchdown, and then on the Bulldogs' following drive Tyson Ford made an interception and Adrian Fox had a five-yard touchdown run to increase the lead to 30-0 with 3:01 left in the first quarter.

Conner Wallace showed that Sikeston wouldn’t go down without a fight with an interception return of about 50 yards to the Jackson 10-yard line early in the second quarter. The pick set up the Bulldogs' only scoring drive of the first half, that was capped off by a four-yard touchdown run by Trez Clark.

“You always want to be as close to perfect as possible,” Eckley said. “We had a chance to get a stop after turning the ball over, and Sikeston did a good job of earning a touchdown. I thought we could have been better there, but, overall, we did a really nice job of containing the edge runs by filling gaps and good tackling.”

The Indians came right back with a nine-play 69-yard drive to extend the lead to 38-7 with 6:02 until halftime. Calder found Kai Crowe for a 32-yard touchdown pass to finish the drive.

“I thought [Calder] played well and our receivers did a good job too,” Eckley said. “They ran nice routes and did a good job of going up and high pointing the football. I was pleased with that.”

Joseph Heckemeyer had a nice 26-yard run on a fake punt for Sikeston on the next drive, but things stalled out around midfield.

Jackson took a 46-7 advantage into halftime after Davis scored on a seven-yard touchdown run with 15 seconds left in the second quarter.

The Indians added three more scores in the second half, a six-yard run from Chase Fischer, a one-yard run from Jason Goodman, and a 72-yard pass from Fox to Gavin Alspaugh.

Sikeston scored its final touchdown at the buzzer when Kayden Craig hit Wallace for a four-yard touchdown.

“We played hard and competed,” said Sikeston coach Treston Pulley. “I’m not pleased with the effort all the way around, but they showed strides of getting better. It was good to end on a high note and we start a new season on Sunday.”

Jackson outgained their opponent 404-146 in total yardage and won the turnover battle 3-1.

The Indians' leading rushers were Fischer (10 for 46, TD) and Fox (4 for 41, TD) and Goodman (8 for 34, TD). The team's top receivers were Crowe (7 for 112, TD) and Davis (5 for 97, TD).

Craig finished 8-of-20 for 75 yards with a touchdown and three interceptions for the Bulldogs. Clark was the team's top runner with 42 yards and a touchdown on 18 carries and Dontrez Williams was the team’s leading receiver with two receptions for 49 yards.

Sikeston travels to Cape Central (3-3) while Jackson hosts Confluence Prep (1-3) next week.