One For The Record Books: Glover, Bradley Lead Jackson Mem. in 62-44 Win over Lacey
By Art Gordon – Shore Sports Network contributor
Jackson Memorial made a return to old-fashioned Jaguars football in its running game on Friday night, and the result was an offensive performance for the record books in a wild 62-44 win over Lacey in Class A South.
The Jaguars (4-2, 4-1) gave the new scoreboard at John J. Munley Field a workout and set a single-game school record for points with a ground game that rushed 45 times for an eye-opening 507 yards, including a career-high 308 yards on 27 carries by senior tailback Khani Glover. He joined Aaron Edwards (308 yards in 1996) as the only other running back in Jackson Memorial history to go over 300 yards rushing in a game.
“We wanted to run downhill and right at them,’’ Glover said.
“Tonight we switched it up, going back to old-school Jackson football by going right at them,’’ said senior running back Ken Bradley, who also had a big game with 128 yards rushing and a career-high five touchdowns on 13 carries.
The Jaguars needed it to hold off a stellar offensive effort by the Lions (5-2, 3-2), ranked No. 7 in the Shore Sports Network Top 10. Senior quarterback Tom Kelly was 23-for-30 for 328 yards and four touchdowns passing, and junior wideout Mike Bocchini had eight catches for 152 yards and three touchdowns in the loss.
Jackson’s unstoppable running game was the difference, as Glover and Bradley continually ran hard and very seldom went down on first contact.
“The coaches continually emphasize to be a Jag back, we don’t go down easy,’’ Bradley said. “No arm tackles.”
“We went to old-time Jackson football with our tackles hands down on the ground so they could come off the ball with some power,’’ said junior two-way lineman Glen Kipila.
Jackson wasted no time in getting going, taking the opening kickoff and scoring in just three plays, with Glover going the last 49 yards for the first of his three touchdowns for an early 6-0 lead.
The Jaguars then sacked Kelly twice on the Lions’ first drive, and the snap on the ensuing punt sailed out of the end zone for a safety and an 8-0 lead.
On the first play after the free kick, Glover ran 46 yards to the Lacey 4-yard line, only to have Jackson fumble on the next play. However, under pressure from a Jackson Memorial rush that hounded him all night and had numerous hits, Kelly’s pass was tipped numerous times and finally intercepted by senior linebacker Mike Petrizzo at the Lacey 11-yard line.
“We switched this week to a three-man front with a nose tackle to put a little more pressure on Kelly,’’ Kipila said.
Two carries by Glover, and the Jaguars had a 15-0 lead halfway through the first quarter.
Lacey stormed back, going 76 yards in six plays to get on the scoreboard on a 1-yard run by Kelly. The big play was a wide receiver screen to Justin Longo, as the Lions caught the Jaguars in a blitz for a long gain to help trim the lead to 15-7.
After Lacey forced Jackson to punt for the only time in the game, the Lions fumbled it, giving the Jaguars the ball at Lacey’s 6-yard line. After a holding penalty pushed it back to the 15-yard line, junior quarterback Joe DeMaio threw a 15-yard pass on a waggle play to Brody Graham for the score. Jared Calhoun made the second of his six extra points with 1:09 left in the first quarter, pushing the lead to 22-7.
The Lions answered, going 61 yards in 7 plays, with Kelly bootlegging and pulling up to find tight end Isaiah Brown for the score from 3 yards out.
The offensive showcase continued when the Jaguars drove 72 yards in 13 plays, with Bradley breaking tackles on a 22-yard run for the first of his five touchdowns on the night and a 29-14 lead.
“I’m a big back,’’ Bradley said. “I like to put people on the ground by blocking. Tonight we switched it up, going back to our traditional one tight end and two running backs formations.”
There were still four minutes left until halftime, so there was plenty of time left for both sides to keep scoring.
Lacey went into its bag of tricks for their next score when senior all-purpose star Christian Turtela took a jet sweep handoff from Kelly but pulled up and lofted a pass to a wide-open Mike Bocchini for a 35-yard touchdown pass. It marked the second game in a row where Tutela has thrown a touchdown pass on a trick play.
Bradley answered when he dove into the end zone on a 1-yard touchdown run to make it 36-22 when the smoke cleared at the end of the first half.
After a well-deserved rest for the scoreboard operator, Lacey went three-and-out on its first possession of the second half and punted for the only time in the game. Jackson then pushed its lead to 43-22 on another 1-yard touchdown run by Bradley.
The offensive explosion then hit full tilt, with Lacey scoring on the first play of the fourth quarter on a 2-yard pass from Kelly to Bocchini. This would be the start of a 35-point explosion in just under four minutes of play on only eight total plays by both sides.
On Jackson Memorial’s first play from scrimmage following Bocchini’s touchdown, Glover raced 61 yards for a score, breaking two tackles along the way. Trying to duplicate Glover’s feat, Kelly found Bocchini for a 75-yard touchdown pass as Bocchini darted through the defense and outraced defenders for his third touchdown of the night.
Bradley answered two plays later, going 47 yards for a touchdown, and then Lacey matched it with its own two-play drive that ended when Kelly hit Tutela for a 23-yard touchdown.
Jackson “slowed” the game down, taking six plays and three minutes to close out the win when Bradley ran for a 20-yard touchdown and a 62-44 lead. The 62 points topped Jackson’s previous high of 59 set in a win over Freehold Township in 2001.
“It was not what I expected coming in, but it’s A South, so anything goes,” said Jackson head coach Walt Krystopik.
Box score
Jackson Memorial 62, Lacey 44
SCORING
TEAMS 1 2 3 4 FINAL
LACEY 7 15 0 22 44
JACKSON MEMORIAL 22 14 7 19 62
Scoring Summary
JM: KHANI GLOVER 49-YARD RUN KICK FAILED.
JM: SAFETY BALL SNAPPED OUT OF END ZONE.
JM: KHANI GLOVER 1-YD RUN. JARED CALHOUN KICK.
LACEY: TOM KELLY 1-YARD RUN PAT DAVIS KICK.
JM: BRODY GRAHAM 15-YARD PASS FROM JOE DEMAIO. CALHOUN KICK.
LACEY: ISAIAH BROWN 3-YARD PASS FROM TOM KELLY. DAVIS KICK.
JM: KEN BRADLEY 22-YARD RUN. CALHOUN KICK.
LACEY: CHRISTIAN TUTELA 35-YARD PASS TO MIKE BOCCHINI TUTELA CATCH FROM KELLY.
JM: BRADLEY 1-YARD RUN CALHOUN KICK.
JM: BRADLEY 1-YARD RUN CALHOUN KICK.
LACEY: BOCCHINI 2-YARD PASS FROM KELLY DAVIS KICK.
M: GLOVER 61-YARD RUN CALHOUN KICK.
LACEY: BOCCHINI 75-YARD PASS FROM KELLY. DAVIS KICK.
JM: BRADLEY 47-YARD RUN KICK FAILED.
LACEY: TUTELA 23 –YARD PASS FROM KELLY. TUTELA CATCH FROM KELLY.
JM: BRADLEY 20-YARD RUN KICK FAILED
STATISTICS
. LACEY JACK. MEM.
FIRST DOWNS 14 13
RUSHING 22-96 45-507
PASSING 23-30-1 364 4-9-39
PENALTIES 3-35 4-28
PUNTS 1-35 1-30
FUMBLES 1-1 1-1
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING: LACEY: CHRISTIAN TUTELA 4-31, TOM KELLY 6-7, ETHAN BLACKWELL 10-54, CONOR DAVIES 2-4. JM: KHANI GLOVER 27- 308, KEN BRADLEY 13-128, JOE DEMAIO 5-18, AARON CURET 1-52
PASSING: LACEY: TOM KELLY 23-29-1-328, CHRISTIAN TUTELA 1-1-35. JM: JOE DEMAIO 4-9-39
RECEIVING: LACEY: CHRISTIAN TUTELA 5-83, ETHAN BLACKWELL 3-24, JUSTIN LONGO 1-21, CONOR DAVIES 1-10, ISIAH BROWN 3-74, MIKE BOCCHINI 8-152. JM: BRODY GRAHAM 1-15, KEN BRADLEY 1-3 KHANI GLOVER 2-21
INTERCEPTIONS: MIKE PETRIZZO