Jackson football team hands Miller Career Academy first loss

The frustration of the Class 4 Miller Career Academy football team was evident throughout much of the second half in the No. 4 Phoenix's game against Jackson on Friday night.

They were undefeated on the season and atop their district standings when they entered The Pit on Friday night, but the Indians were able to spoil that with a 28-14 victory to close out the regular season.

The Phoenix scored with four and a half minutes remaining in the game to pull within two touchdowns of the Indians, but Jackson recovered the ensuing onside kick to halt MCA's chance of a comeback and hand them their first loss of the season.

"They had some frustration, but they kept plugging away and they're so talented that they were able to stay close," Jackson coach Brent Eckley said. "They've got a lot of pride as a program because they had two or three shots where they could've just laid it down and they didn't. We recover that onside kick there up two scores. If they get that one, they can really make it interesting."

Jackson, No. 7 in Class 5, never let MCA make it too interesting, but Eckley said he thought it was "the best team that we have played against this year," and was a gauge for the now 8-1 Indians of how they'll stack up against other talented teams as they head into district action.

"We're going to face teams like this in the playoffs, you know, 8-0 teams, teams that are going to be fast, going to be athletic," Jackson senior quarterback Dante Vandeven said. "This really gave us a good look of where we're at, where we need to progress."

The Indians capitalized on a bad snap on a Phoenix punt midway through the first quarter and started a scoring drive on the MCA 18. The drive took four plays and ended with a 3-yard touchdown run by Vandeven to give the Indians a 7-0 lead with 5 minutes, 26 seconds remaining in the opening quarter.

Jackson went up 14-0 on Vandeven's second 3-yard score of the game with 3:53 left in the half.

Vandeven faked a handoff and sprinted down the left sideline for 15 yards and then Xominique Davis and Ethan Isaksen got it down to the 5 with 23 and 17-yard runs, respectively before an MCA facemask penalty set up Vandeven's second score of the game.

"We ended up tweaking some different formations," Eckley said of the offense. "We were running some base stuff, but we were just doing it out of different formations and they struggled to line up sound to it, so we got some mileage out of those. We were able to go throughout the whole game and do some of those same formations and just get yards out of it."

The Phoenix responded with a 70-yard drive. The first three plays resulted in three first downs -- two 15-yard completions to Javon Collard with a 10-yard by James in between -- to put them on the Jackson 30.

MCA was stalled shortly with a 5-yard offsides penalty but a screen pass to Marquis Stewart resulted in a 15-yard gain and James ran it in 20 yards to make it 14-6 just under two minutes before half.

"We knew that they were going to be a lot faster than anybody that we had on our team, so our main focus was staying on top for the coverage," senior linebacker Josh Stone said. "And then their quarterback -- 240 [pounds] for a quarterback, I mean, that's huge.

"It's something that we're not used to, having a kid that's like Preston Hobeck running the ball," Stone added of James.

The Indians extended their lead back to two scores on the first drive after halftime and used 7:21 off the clock in the process.

Vandeven hit receiver Jeremy Elliot for a 22-yard pass that set up his 1-yard touchdown with 7:39 left in the third.

MCA wasted an opportunity to cut back into that lead later in the quarter.

After nearly being picked off by Isaksen on the first play of the drive, James completed 22 and 6-yard passes to move the Phoenix to the 12-yard line.

Fluelen dropped a pass on the end line after a hard Indians hit and James overthrew a wide open receiver in the right corner of the end zone before three MCA penalties made it fourth-and-29 from the 37. Senior lineman Preston Hobeck then sacked James to give the Indians the ball at their own 43.

"Those kids played their tails off," Eckley said of the defensive line. "They were very active. They just kept working towards the quarterback. We didn't tackle particularly well, but we ran to the ball really well defensively, and we had to get multiple hits on the guys to get them down. It took us a little while to adjust to the speed, but we got there."

Jackson's Ethan Isaksen braces for a hit by Miller Career Academy's Stanley Green in the first quarter Friday, Oct. 17, 2014 in Jackson. (GLENN LANDBERG)

Jackson wasted little time in extending their lead. Isaksen carried it three times for 37 yards to put the Indians on the Phoenix 20, and a late hit penalty moved them up to the 10.

Vandeven sent a low pass into the end zone, but Davis snagged it to make it 28-6 heading into the fourth.

"I floated that one in there, it was a little sketchy," Vandeven said with a smile. "I'm watching it as it goes and I thought I underthrew it, but Xom's a great athlete and made the play on it."

The Phoenix used 16 and 20-yard passes to Fluelen and an 8-yard run by James -- with several broken tackles -- to get it to the Jackson 38 with five and half minutes remaining in the game.

James attempted a shot at the end zone and a pass interference call on the Indians moved MCA to the 23. James rushed 18 yards and then 9 yards to the 1 after a penalty pushed the Phoenix back. He capped the 82-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown run. Travis Riley ran it in to complete the two-point conversion and make it 28-14 before the Indians recovered the onside kick and ran out the clock.

"To start the game they thought they could wrap him up high, and you can't do that because he's just so stinking strong," Eckley said of James. "And you can't really shoot on him because he's athletic enough to hurdle you, so he's a tough matchup that's for sure."

Jackson's Gabriel Dudley is brought down by Miller Career Academy's Donovan Forrest in the third quarter Friday, Oct. 17, 2014 in Jackson. (GLENN LANDBERG)

The Phoenix, who entered the game with 35 sacks, 12 interceptions and 20 fumble recoveries only had one fumble recovery in the second quarter of the game.

"That's the most athletic defense I've ever seen as a coach," Eckley said. "They were just unbelievable speed-wise in the box, so our guys really had to battle, move their feet, move their hands."

The Indians, who claimed the No. 1 seed in Class 5 District 1, will begin their district title defense on Oct. 31, following a first-round bye.

The bye week is welcomed by Jackson, which had three players go down with injuries on Friday night. Senior Ty Crowden, who handles kickoff and PAT duties, left the game with a possible rib injury after diving to keep the Indians' first punt of the game out of the end zone. Senior lineman Brandon Simpher also left the game during the first half after taking a hard hit. Junior running back Gabriel Dudley left the game with a knee injury on MCA's final drive.

"It's kind of a double-edged sword," Eckley said of facing a ranked opponent prior to districts. "You get to this point and you want to see someone good so you're tested and so you're ready and so that you can be peaking, but at the same time you don't want to lose anybody. We lost three guys during the game, but I don't know for how long. I don't know if we're concerned about all three of them that we may not get them back. That certainly lessens us as a team. Some other guys might have to be ready to step up and carry the ball and kick the ball, which they did a good job of tonight."

Jackson 7 7 14 0 -- 28

Miller 0 6 0 8 -- 14

First Quarter

J -- Dante Vandeven 3 run (Jeremy Elliot kick), 5:26

Second Quarter

J -- Vandeven 3 run (Elliot kick), 3:53

M -- Jaylen James 20 run (run failed), 1:49

Third Quarter

J -- Vandeven 1 run (Elliot kick), 7:39

J -- Xominique Davis 10 pass from Vandeven (Elliot kick), 41.4 seconds

Fourth Quarter

M -- James 1 run (Travis Riley run), 4:27

J M

First downs 16 14

Rushes-yards 40-204 26-169

Passing yards 123 205

Passes 10-15-0 16-24-0

Punts 3-51.6 5-35.6

Fumbles-Lost 1-1 1-1

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING -- Jackson, Gabriel Dudley 9-22, Xominique Davis 4-29, Dante Vandeven 13-62, Ethan Isaksen 10-76, Lashone Dean 1-9, Ben Maudie 1-1, Triston Thele 2-5; Miller, Marquis Stewart 11-29, Jaylen James 12-135, Travis Riley 1-0, Javon Collard 2-5

PASSING -- Jackson, Vandeven 10-15-0-123; Miller, James 16-24-0-205

RECEIVING -- Jackson, Davis 2-19, Dean 1-32, Jeremy Elliot 4-57, Maudie 2-15, Thele 1-0, Isaksen 1-0; Miller, Stewart 6-61, Alijah Fluelen 4-105, Collard 6-39.