RAMS PASS BLUE JAYS FOR DISTRICT CROWN

SCOTT CITY -- Scott City answered the dare and Charleston was stuck with the cold truth of a 38-6 loss Friday night in a game that decided the Class 2A, District 2 championship.

After the Blue Jays stacked the line of scrimmage and dared Scott City to throw the ball, the Rams opened up the passing game -- and distanced themselves -- as quarterback Scott Johnston met the challenge with 105 yards on 4-of-4 passing in the second half alone. In all, Johnston completed five of eight passes for 131 yards and one interception. He threw a touchdown pass and ran for another."They played us so tough in the first half that we were afraid to pass," said Scott City coach Roy Williams. "We were afraid that if we threw the ball they'd have three defenders there with the speed they got. In the second half, I said the heck with it. Let's go ahead and throw the ball because they were putting nine, 10, 11 people up front and they were stuffing us. I think finally in the third quarter, the punishment was starting to show on them, but passing is really what opened it up for us.""They were just really keying on the run," said running back David Enderle, who ran for 55 yards, caught two passes for 61 yards and scored three touchdowns. "Scott Johnston just did a great job of throwing the ball and he read the defense perfect."Scott City established the run early, with both Matt Underwood and David Enderle having success. On their first two drives of the game both of which started in Charleston territory -- the Rams smashed their way into the end zone.

A 9-yard scamper by Underwood and an 18-yard run by Enderle put Scott City up 14-0 in the first quarter.

But after that, Scott City struggled running the ball. On an 82-yard screen pass from quarterback Boothe Dugan to Jordy Mixon, Charleston cut the lead to 14-6, where it stood at halftime."Charleston pushed us to the limit," Williams said. "I wasn't sure if we'd ever get to the point where we could stay on top and feel comfortable.""We played hard," said Charleston coach Brent Anderson. "I'm really disappointed with the way things turned out, but I'm not disappointed with the effort."The most crucial play of the game came with 6:40 left in the third quarter.

Charleston had a punt ricochet off of one of its own lineman and Scott City pounced on it at Charleston's 7-yard line. Two plays later, Enderle scored from 4 yards out to make the score 21-6.

Then the Rams went for the jugular.

Johnston hit three passing plays for at least 16 yards on the next possession and put the Rams ahead 28-6 when he hit Enderle from for a 20-yard touchdown connection.

The Rams added another touchdown on a 2-yard Johnston sneak. The play was set up on a 41-yard pass from Johnston to Enderle.

Then, with 6:04 left in the game, Lucas Ward -- who had the wind knock down a 42-yarder before halftime -- kicked a 37-yard field goal to finish off the scoring.

Charleston couldn't muster much offense.

Eight of the Blue Jays' 11 pass completions went for less than 10 yards, but Charleston did manage 143 yards through the air.

On the ground, the Blue Jay offensive line couldn't get a push on Scott City's defensive front. Mixon broke a 38-yard run toward the end of the game, but other than that the running game was shut down. Charleston ran the ball 25 times for 71 yards."We dropped passes and we didn't block," Anderson said. "We didn't do anything to help ourselves offensively."Matt Underwood led Scott City with 60 yards on the ground. He also caught two passes for 47 yards.