It wasn’t perfect for Jayton in Rule on Friday night…the Birds did have one extra point blocked and Rule did earn one first down.
Other than that, the Jaybirds looked sharp in rolling to a 54-0 defeat of the Bobcats. It was more of the same explosive offense and terrorizing defense that Jaybird fans have become accustomed to: Bode Ham (3 carries, 68 yards, 2 TD) juking his way to the endzone, Griff Reel (10 tackles) and Colt Gentry (8 tackles) terrorizing running backs behind the line of scrimmage, the Jaybird band with a near continuous playing of the fight song, a game ending at halftime so the visiting fans can get home early, and head coach Josh Stanaland with that same consistent message.
“Felt like we had a good week of practice this week,” said Stanaland. “We came out and did what we needed to do. We played well, we played clean. We preach nameless, faceless opponents and we talk about playing to our standard regardless of who is lined up across from us.”
The Jaybirds did exactly what they were supposed to do—they lined up against a weaker opponent and treated it like the state championship.
As the season has progressed there have been a few wrinkles added to help make this team an even bigger nightmare for opposing coaches and players. In Rule we saw sophomore Dayton Bleiker under center showcasing his ability to throw the football.
Stanaland noted the added benefit of Bleiker (2/2–58 yds–1TD) under center and how that gives defenses even more playmakers to have to plan for. “[Dayton] looked great, and when he can do that it gives us the opportunity to get the ball in Sean Stanaland’s hands another way. Obviously we know what [Sean] can do throwing the ball, but now we’re able to move him to the backfield some and throw it to him. I think he had one carry for a 54yard touchdown too. Again, for us it’s just another way to distribute the ball to our playmakers,” he said.
As if opposing teams didn’t have their hands full game-planning for Ham and Gentry and Reel and Salazar, now they can add Bleiker and Stanaland to their list of problems.
The Jaybirds host their final home game of the season this coming Thursday night, Oct. 24, against the Raiders of Lueders-Avoca.
