The #1-ranked Jayton Jaybirds moved to 6-0 Friday night, defeating the Newcastle Bobcats 72-22 just after the half.
You could write about him every week, but on this night it was definitely junior running back Bode Ham who carried the load. His stat line alone is impressive: 8 carries for 180 yards and 4 TD’s; 4 catches for 88 yards and 2 TD’s; 2 for 2 passing for 43 yards and a touchdown,andthenthrow in a kickoff return that went for a 45-yard score. That’s a grand total of 364 yards and 8 touchdowns on the night.
Head Coach Josh Stanaland commented on his back, “Bode is a weapon and as much as anybody I’ve ever coached he’s a kid who, when he gets the ball in his hands, is a legitimate threat to score at all times.” There is no doubt that Ham creates a challenge for opposing defenses, but it’s not like he is the only problem opponents face.
“You know there’s no shortage of weapons,” he continued. “I think Sean [Stanaland] tonight caught two touchdowns, it’s just crazy. Again, we have teams start to come out; they manned us up, they didn’t want our receivers to get free; that’s a good plan, but then we have a lot weapons; a bunch of different ways that we can beat people”, noted Stanaland.
It has been a fun ride watching the Jaybirds blow through a series of ranked teams in the early parts of the season, but now the real games begin. The Jaybirds will open district play this Thursday night in Jayton against Paint Creek. Stanaland added, “They’re 4-1 coming into this week. I don’t remember who they play tonight, but there’s a good chance they’re going to be 5-1 and be playing with a lot of confidence. Our challenge now, after playing a tough pre-district schedule is to continue to hold ourselves to a high standard every day.
We have to continue getting better every week, even if that opponent is not ranked in the top 10; we’ve had a lot of those and it’s been a lot of fun, but championship teams find a way to get better every week regardless of the opponent.”
So it is on to the next challenge for a Jaybird team that certainly has aspirations of being a championship team.
SPEC COMMUNITY OUTREACH
South Plains Electric Cooperative held a special program in Spur this week for area schoolchildren, teaching lessons about safety and electricity. | COURTESY PHOTOS
