Coach Wilson proved to be a risk-taker last Friday night, as the Jackets continued their 13-game home winning streak, and created the first winning streak of the season against White House Heritage.
Offensive coordinator Enoch Hill displayed aggressive play calling throughout all four quarters (2-3 on fourth-down conversions, both resulting in touchdowns) on the ground and in the air, with Springfield prevailing in a dogfight against the Patriots, 42-41. Both junior quarterbacks for Springfield seemed to find more consistent playing time this week, with Day seemingly taking the helm for quarters one and four, and Hudson using his legs for quarters two and three.
Despite this match-up being a very high scoring affair, Springfield's defense bottled up Heritage's running back tandem of Jackson Mapes and Parker Deaton relatively well throughout the first half: allowing Junior quarterback Will Wilson to account for over half their points through two quarters. Wilson would finish the game with four touchdowns, three of which going into the hands of Senior wide-out Trenton Tuttle.
In all four quarters, a theme was evident that neither of these teams were backing down. Coach Wilson made that abundantly clear after a timeout late in the second quarter, telling his guys (and just about everyone else in attendance): "Wake up! Quit finding an excuse and wake up". The defense yielded a touchdown on that drive, but the head coach's pep talk sparked a fire under quarterback Kevontez Hudson, who darted his way 75 yards to the house with three minutes left in the first half. Hudson finished with two touchdowns and over 100 yards rushing on seven attempts.
Heritage would capitalize off of a Jackets turnover late in the second quarter, but a blocked PAT made all the difference, putting Springfield ahead by one as time expired, 28-27.
Senior running back and Social Dweebs player of the Game Kevontay White kicked off the scoring in the third, this time a 60 yard sprint of his own for six more to give Springfield an eight point lead with 9 minutes remaining.
The Patriot's running game came alive in the second half, their second drive covering over 60 yards on the ground, resulting in another Heritage touchdown, narrowing the deficit back to one.
White would show up big again for SHS, splitting the White House defensive line for six more on a long third down with 2:02 left in the game. White would finish with nearly 200 yards rushing and three touchdowns. White shared his thoughts on the improbable touchdown "I just put my trust in the [offensive] line to make a hole, and they did just that".
Wilson would find Tuttle once again on a deep post route, bridging the gap back to one point. Coaches Hill and Wilson continued their dynamic play calling, with an attempted fourth down and 10 at the Heritage 20: with Day slinging a pass through the hands of receiver Cale Jones, who appeared to be injured after the play.
A long drive orchestrated by Heritage running back Parker Deaton and a very disciplined offensive line set up the Patriots for victory. White House’s perfect record all relied on the leg of senior Hunter Ward for a twenty one yard kick.
The kick hardly ever left the ground: the 5'9" senior Jones blocked his fourth kick of the season and sealed Springfield's second victory of the year. Jones spoke on his motivation to play through the injury in order to give his team the win: "It's my senior year, I don't want to miss a snap...honestly I don't want to miss anything."
Springfield improves their record to 2-1 on the season, and will look to carry that same momentum into week four action at Station Camp (0-3). The Bison lost their most recent game to Hendersonville 48-7, and have lost each game by an average of 32 points.
-Blaine Kellar is a Broadcasting and Journalism Intern for Social Dweebs, who has covered Springfield High School athletics since 2018.
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