The Jayton Jaybirds faced the Ira Bulldogs last Thursday night in Jayton, and it wasn’t long before the Ira game plan became clear: Don’t let the Jaybirds gouge you in the passing game.
Coach Josh Stanaland said after the game, “Pretty clear to us that they weren’t going to let us throw the ball. After watching our Klondike film they backed out a lot tonight and dropped three. And if they’re going to drop three then we like our chances in the run game. We had some pretty big gaps. Our linemen—Justin Collins, Colt Gentry, and Griff Reel—opened up some massive holes. We had a lot of touchdowns where backs didn’t get touched and that’s a credit to the offensive line.”
No running back benefited more from the blocking than sophomore Bode Ham, who ended the night with 17 carries for 277 yards and 3 touchdowns. Ayden Salazar added 48 more yards on the ground and another three touchdowns to help the Jaybirds run right over the Bulldogs to the tune of an 84–34 blowout before the home crowd.
While the defense showed a few holes in the passing game, the Jaybird defenders are also demonstrating a very opportunistic brand of football. The game’s third play saw Ham sack Ira quarterback Aedyn Claxton for a safety and the final play of the game was a sack fumble caused by Salazar that was caught in midair by Lorenzo Vargas for the game-ending touchdown.
Apowerfulrungameand a scoring defense make for a tough football team to beat. Shout out also to sophomore Cutter Lee who led the Jaybirds with 6 special teams tackles.
“Cutter is right there,” Stanaland noted. “He is so valuable to us as a special teams kid, he’s super coachable, he’s a great athlete, he tackles well, he’s physical and his time is coming.”
The Jaybirds square off next with the Petersburg Buffaloes (1-2) this Friday night in Jayton.
With the Jaybird “pick your poison” offense, I guess we’ll see what the Buffaloes pick.
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