Jefferson rolls past Davenport North, 35-6

CEDAR RAPIDS - After struggling through the first 19 minutes of Thursday night's game, Cedar Rapids Jefferson's football team was looking for a big play.

The J-Hawks were clinging to a 7-0 lead when senior defensive back Jacob Beaton delivered.

On third-and-goal from the Jeff 6, Beaton sacked Davenport North quarterback Devyn Sperry for a 14-yard loss. The Wildcats tried a field goal that was short, and the field tilted in favor of Jefferson.

The J-Hawks scored 14 points in the final 1:58 of the first half, tacked on 14 more to start the second half and rolled to a 35-6 win in a non-district game at Kingston Stadium.

Jefferson senior Jared Eivins, who accounted for five touchdowns in the J-Hawks' 55-37 win at Prairie last week, was intercepted twice in the first half Thursday. The second gave North the ball at the Jeff 14 and the Wildcats moved to the 4.

'That interception kind of got us trapped deep in our own zone,” said Beaton, who raced in from the edge to wrestle down Sperry on the key play.

'My guy didn't release, so I saw the quarterback coming off on the edge and decided I might as well go for the quarterback there,” Beaton said.

The J-Hawks zoomed back 80 yards in seven plays, Eivins scoring from the 10, to take a 14-0 lead with 1:58 left in the half.

North moved back across the 50, but Sperry was dropped for a 2-yard loss on fourth down.

The J-Hawks moved back to the 15 with 8.9 seconds left. Eivins spotted senior Valentino Green on a slant pattern and zipped it to him for a touchdown and 21-0 lead at halftime.

'We knew we had one play left and we got the play that we thought would work and it worked,” said Green, who caught a 10-yard touchdown pass from junior Dylan Hart in the third quarter that boosted Jefferson's lead to 35-0.

'I thought at times North outplayed us,” Jefferson Coach Brian Webb said. 'But our kids got better and stepped up. We have a big play offense and we made some big plays.”

North tried an onside kick to start the second half that Jefferson recovered at its own 59. Manny Oluntunde's 1-yard plunge capped a seven-play drive.

The J-Hawks were back in business at the North 12 when the Wildcats fumbled a reverse on the ensuing kickoff and Jeff junior Tyler Unkel recovered. Hart took over for Eivins and on third down found Green for the touchdown and a 35-0 lead.

'It's not a result of bad luck, it's just that we weren't able to step up and make the plays when we needed to and they capitalized on our miscues,” North Coach Guy J. Dierikx said.

Eivins led Jefferson (2-1) in rushing with 12 carries for 106 yards. The J-Hawks rolled up 314 yards of total offense to 186 for North (0-3).