In what garnered large amounts of media attention as the “Battle of the Birds” but more predominantly the “Brother Bowl,” the Jayton Jaybirds defeated the Rotan Yellowhammers 42 to 12. Jayton Head Football Coach Josh Stanaland faced his brother John for the first time in his career. Both teams were able to gain steam by building their own winning records heading towards this showdown and the fans were not disappointed.
Jayton put points on the board early due to shifty running from junior running back Tye Scogin, who gained a total of 89 yards on the ground with 3 touchdowns. The Jayton defense forced what appeared to be a three-and-out on the Yellowhammers until the returner muffed the punt to give the Yellowhammers the ball and great field position. In just a few short plays, the Yellowhammers were on the board, forcing a close score early in the contest. The score at the end of the first quarter was 14 to 6 in favor of the Jaybirds.
Entering the second quarter, the Jayton defense became dominant allowing no points during the second and third quarters while wearing down Rotan’s defense with a strong running game. Scogin, Pecos Smith (1 rushing touchdown), Aaron Hernandez and Caleb Valerio combined for 262 yards rushing. By running the ball consistently, the Jaybirds were able to move the chains with short and long gains behind strong blocking from Keldon Moorhead and Evan Cheyne. Senior quarterback Kaden Awe connected with both Smith and sophomore Tripp Scott for touchdowns.
While not forcing any turnovers on defense, the Jaybirds kept the Yellowhammers under control through strong tackling. Awe led the way for Jayton with 20 tackles followed by junior Cameron Benavides who amassed 16 tackles. There were 5 defenders who had double digit tackles on the game. The Jayton defense has shown their improvement this season by cutting down on penalties and holding their opponents in check.
As the final buzzer sounded, both teams lined up to shake hands. In most cases, fans usually begin to leave. In this particular game, the fans stayed seated to see the reactions the head coaches had for one another. Anyone hoping for drama was let down when the brothers met at midfield to embrace. Josh and John Stanaland proved that football does not trump the importance of family.
Jayton will go into their bye week with a 4-2 record. They will face the Wilson Mustangs on October 19 at home in their last non-district contest.
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