to describe what happened on Thursday night in Benjamin, Texas, except to say that the Jayton Jaybirds totally dominated the Paducah Dragons to the tune of a 44-13 victory.
The Jaybirds were superior in every phase of the game. Statistics make it clear that the Jaybirds out-rushed (299–80), outpassed (64–45), and outscored (44–13) the Dragons, but it doesn’t stop there. The Jaybird team was more physical, the coaching staff was more savvy, the cheerleaders were more spirited, and the band was more inspiring!
All in all the Jaybirds held a Paducah team that averages 57 points a game to a mere 13 on the night. After the game head coach Josh Stanaland noted, “Look, if we were running a track meet this week, we wouldn’t even show up. We couldn’t beat these guys in a track meet. They’re going to outrun us, they’re going to outjump us, but we thought we could out-physical them. And we thought we were better football players. Knowing that, that was our goal. We decided we were going to be physical and were going to grind on them a little bit… We talked all week about arriving to the ball in a bad mood. We want to be physical with it.”
The Jaybirds certainly set the physical tone and that tone carried home the trophy. Leading the physical defense was Justin Collins (14 tackles), who often caught the Paducah runners for a loss in the backfield.
Offensively, play was just as physical as the twoheaded rushing monster of Jaydon Rivera (20–109) and Ayden Salazar (15-131-2TD) routinely plowed into the Paducah defense until the Dragons wanted no more.
Add 64 yards of passing by Sean Stanaland, receiving touchdowns by Colt Gentry, Jayce Rivera, and Collins, and throw in a 43-yard touchdown run by Caleb Beck, and you’ve got the story on the game.
Moving forward in the UIL bracket, the Jayton Jaybirds will next take on the Throckmorton Greyhounds at 7:00 Friday night in Hamlin.
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