Poko Bulls Past Jamestown
Poquoson’s cheerleaders had a quite a bit of reasons to do their thing Saturday, as their Islanders roared to a 21-7 defeat of Jamestown. Photo by Jason Norman
Hosting Poquoson on Saturday night at James City County Stadium, Jamestown got off to a quick start. Rodney Smith returned the opening kickoff 46 yards into Islander territory, and Myles Antonini knocked over half the Poquoson line on first down in a 20-yard run. Two plays later, Evan Moog rumbled 21 yards up the middle for a 21-yard touchdown, and the Eagles were up 7-0 less than a minute and a half in.
Not much went right for Jamestown (1-3, 0-3) after that, as the Islander (3-1, 3-0) defense and a multitude of costly penalties kept the Eagles off the scoreboard for the remainder of the night. Meanwhile, Tee McConnell and Luke Hill each threw touchdown passes, and McConnell picked off a crucial interception - one of five takeaways the Islanders would grab -- in the closing moments of a 21-7 victory.
"Our defense just hit them in the mouth and kept on coming back," said Tristan Maldonado, who pulled down a pair of interceptions.
The Islander defense went three-and-out on its first drive, punting to the Eagle 14. On first down, Maldonado picked off Antonini and returned the pick to the Jamestown 17.
On first down, McConnell lobbed a pass to Dylan Hill, who bobbled the ball before corralling it on his way across the goal line.
Two plays into Jamestown's next drive, the Islanders struck again, as a pass bounced off Moog's hands and landed on Chad Pinder, who took it to the Eagles 27.
Hill rushed for 12 yards on first down, and on second, he appeared to hand off to Hill, who charged around the right end, drawing the defense with him.
Unbeknownst to them, however, Cody Hutchinson had the ball and was bolting around the other end, not stopping until his squad was ahead 14-7 just over five minutes into the contest.
Moog ran 21 yards to midfield on the next play, and Antonini hit him for 15 yards to the Islander 35. The two rushed for 17 yards over the next six plays, but Moog was stopped short of a first down on third-and-eight, and a Max Zaun field goal attempt went off to the right as the first quarter ended.
Jamestown got the ball back at its own 36, and Antonini got his squad into Poquoson territory with a 16-yarder to Moog. After Moog carried to the Islander 42, Antonini hit Ron Coberly near the 30. As Coberly turned upfield, defenders hit him high from behind and low from the front, and the ball popped out, leaving Poquoson's Anthony Anderson to yank it up and race to midfield.
McConnell passed to Hill at the Eagle 30, and Hutchinson ran to the 18. A holding penalty knocked Poquoson back to the 30, and Johnny Yang sacked McConnell at the 38. But Jamestown was called for a face mask on the play, pushing Poquoson up to the Eagle 22.
McConnell managed a single yard over the next two plays, but he fumbled on third down. Hill fell on it, but just as the whistle blew to end the play, a defender landed on him. Jamestown was given a late-hit penalty, giving Poquoson the ball at the 25. On the next play, Hill threaded a pass over the middle between two defenders to Pinder for a 21-7 lead.
Poquoson nearly added to its lead on the next drive, as Hutchinson ran 16 yards to the Islander 25 and Hill got 11 more for a first down at the five with a minute to play. But Jay Diggs was stopped at the two, and Sam Preas broke through the Poquoson line to squash Hutchinson with five seconds to play. Pinder nearly snared a touchdown pass as the clock hit zero, but he fell out of bounds, and the half ended with the Islanders up, 21-7.
Poquoson punted on its first drive, giving the Eagles the ball at their own 20. Moog and Antonini slowly got them into Poquoson territory, but the Eagles were soon faced with fourth-and-two at the Islander 43. Antonini was stopped for no gain, giving Poquoson back the ball.
The next Islander drive stalled at the Jamestown 21 moments into the fourth quarter, and Antonini hit Rory Dillion at midfield, then Scott Burkett at the Islander 37. Antonini ran to the 27 for another first down, and Moog carried twice to the 15. But a personal foul penalty knocked the Eagles back to the 29, and Antonini was knocked for a four-yard loss.
Two plays later, he lobbed a pass to the goal line, where Dillion and Maldonado went up for it. Maldonado came down with the ball and fell into the endzone for a touchback with 5:49 on the clock.
Still, the Eagles didn't quit, holding the Islanders to just one first down over the next two minutes and getting the ball back at their own 25 with just under four minutes to play. Antonini hit Dillion for seven yards and Smith for 10, but Hill and William Haskins sacked him for an eight-yard loss at the Eagle 34. A play later, McConnell pulled down his fourth interception of the season to put the game away.
"I wasn't real sure if I could catch it, because I thought it was tipped," he said of the pass. "I went for full extension."
Just after (and probably slightly before) the game ended, the Islanders were already thinking about their next roadblock to a second-straight Bay Rivers District title: York, whom they'll host on Friday (Jamestown hosts Warhill). The Falcons moved to 4-0 (3-0) with a 37-20 defeat of New Kent on Friday.
"This keeps our momentum going," Maldonado said of Friday's win, "but we know we have a goal to access, and it doesn't end here."
