Jackson's defense struggles to slow running attack

FLORISSANT -- The Jackson defense had to feel fairly good about the first two series against Hazelwood East on Saturday in the Class 5 state semifinal.

The Spartans were three-and-out on the first drive and the second ended with an interception by Adam Zweigart after a loss on a rushing play.

Then they were introduced to fullback DeJuan Owens.

"I would say he is probably the stockiest fast running back we've seen," Jackson defensive end Kevin Pridemore said.

"No. 44 was ridiculous," Jackson safety Marcus Harris added. "He's huge, and he could juke and he was tough to tackle. He's a heck of a player and he ran hard."

TOP: Jackson coach Van Hitt yells instructions across the field before a play during the first half Saturday.RIGHT: Jackson fans Tayler Meyer, left, and her sister, Alyssa Meyer, attempt to stay warm while watching the game.

Owens, listed generously at 6-foot and 190 pounds, ran for 164 yards on just 18 carries and scored four touchdowns for the Spartans. He ran for scores of 11, 52, 26 and 5 yards on a day when the Spartans thought they might get bottled up.

"We wanted to stretch the field on them," said Hazelwood East first-year coach Mike Jones, whose first three pass-play calls yielded 2 yards and the interception. "It starts up front with the offensive line. They've gotten better over the year."

Owens said the Spartans were aware of what Jackson had done in the playoffs, including the bottling up of Eureka's running game in last weekend's quarterfinal game.

"I didn't think we would be able to run because they had so many people in the box," Owens said. "The line blocked well, and we ran better than we thought we would."

The line play and Owens' combination of speed and elusiveness proved to be more than Jackson could handle.

ELIZABETH DODD ~ edodd@semissourian.comJackson fans Tayler Meyer, left, and her sister, Alyssa Meyer, attempt to stay warm while watching the game.

"They're good up front and they have excellent skill players," Jackson coach Van Hitt said. "If they broke the line of scrimmage, it was six points."

Jackson senior linebacker Blake Peiffer, Southeast Missouri's leading tackler, said he was impressed with the Spartans and not so impressed with the Indians' tackling.

"We didn't have the speed to keep up with their shiftiness, and when they got on the edges, it went downhill from there," Peiffer said. "And we didn't have our best tackling day either. We had one third-and-long we let them get, and it was just falling off tackles and not getting the tackles.

"We knew what we were getting into with the speed, we just didn't contain it like we should have."

Added Pridemore: "Nothing they did caught us off guard, but they executed their offense real well. I think we thought they would try to play around us in the beginning, but they really started to come at us and were more physical than we anticipated."

The Indians limited E'lon Spight, who had Hazelwood East's first two carries on the first two drives, to just 33 yards on 12 carries, and 19 of that came on one play in the second half.

Hazelwood East did pass for 76 yards as Eric Brown was 7 of 14, including three straight completions in the first half after the interception.

One of those was the third-and-10 play to which Peiffer referred, when receiver Christopher Weaver was trapped near the line of scrimmage and somehow bounced outside for a 14-yard gain.

Plays like that and cutback runs were devastating.

"Their players were very shifty and hard to take down," Pridemore said. "They were hard runners, and when you wrap them up, you really have to run your feet and run them to the ground or they're just going to slide off you and keep on running."

Harris, after watching the linebackers in front of him keep Chaminade's Rob Standard and Eureka's Luke Thuston in check in recent weeks, had a hard time believing what he saw from Owens, who said after the game he's looking at schools ranging from Cincinnati and Indiana to Central Missouri.

"If he can get through our linebackers," Harris said, "he can get through anybody."

HAZELWOOD EAST 33, JACKSON 6

Jackson0060--6

Hazelwood East02067--33

Second quarter

@z_agate_no tab_no indnt_bld ld:HE -- DeJuan Owens 11 run (kick blocked), 11:55

Key: After Walter Powell partially blocked a Jackson punt, Owens opened the drive with a 27-yard run on his first carry of the game.

Drive: 5 plays, 41 yards, 1:29. East, 7-0.

@z_agate_no tab_no indnt_bld ld:HE -- Eric Brown 1 run (Tarrell Downing kick), 6:34

Key: After a short punt, East drove 48 yards with Brown's middle screen pass to Downing accounting for 18 yards on a second-and-14.

Drive: 9 plays, 48 yards, 3:50. East, 13-0.

@z_agate_no tab_no indnt_bld ld:HE -- Owens 52 run (Downing kick), :20

Key: Christopher Weaver intercepted Marcus Harris' pass inside Hazelwood East territory with just 1:03 to play in the half.

Drive: 2 plays, 52 yards, :43. East, 20-0.

Third quarter

@z_agate_no tab_no indnt_bld ld:HE -- Owens 26 run (kick blocked), 8:52

Key: E'lon Spight ripped off a 19-yard run on the first play after a Jackson fumble.

Drive: 3 plays, 45 yards, :27. East, 26-0.

@z_agate_no tab_no indnt_bld ld:J -- Cole Rodgers 6 pass from Marcus Harris (pass failed), 1:14

Key: Adam Zweigart found holes and picked up 35 yards on three consecutive running plays.

Drive: 9 plays, 58 yards, 3:58. East, 26-6.

Fourth quarter

@z_agate_no tab_no indnt_bld ld:HE -- Owens 5 run (Downing kick), 7:51

Key: After another partially blocked punt, Brown hooked up with Weaver on a 25-yard pass play on third-and-14 from the Jackson 30.

Drive: 4 plays, 26 yards, 1:54. East, 33-6

Individual statistics

@z_agate_no tab_no indnt_bld ld:Rushing -- Jackson, Adam Zweigart 20-56, Andy Winkleblack 5-19, Bobby Clark 1-(-10), Drew Bucher 16-72, Marcus Harris 3-(-11), Ryan Marble 1-2, Mitchell McCulley 3-24, (Total, 49-150); Hazelwood East -- E'lon Spight 12-33, DeJuan Owens 18-164, Eric Brown 2-2, Jacquise Evans 5-7, Hasson Hamilton 2-3, (Total 39-209).

Passing -- Jackson, Harris 4-10-2 42; Hazelwood East, Eric Brown 7-14-1 76.

Receiving -- Jackson, Eli Gohn 1-18, Zweigart 1-11, Cole Rodgers 1-6, Andrew Zeller 1-7; Hazelwood East, Tarrell Downing 2-32, Christopher Weaver 4-48, T.J. Peyton 1-(-4).