The South Kitsap band opened homecoming Oct. 16 with the national anthem as the game versus Emerald Ridge got under way.
As South was four-and-out in their first possession of the game, Emerald Ridge got the ball back and quickly made it up the field with back-to-back first downs. What looked like a converted fourth down for the Jaguars, was stopped by JJ Leota for a Wolves’ first down.
Izaiah Davis went to work as he ran for two first downs, pushing the Wolves up the field.
Unfortunately what looked to have been a touchdown for the Wolves was deemed a touchback, and the Jaguars got the ball on the 20.
The ball was handed off to Emerald Ridge’s Dustin Resnick, who ran it back for an 80-yard touchdown to give the Jaguars a 7-0 lead with 5:39 to play in the quarter.
After the kickoff by the Jags, South Kitsap got the ball in the end zone for a touchback. Taylor handed the ball off to Isaiah Davis who ran for 59 yards for a Wolves first down
South continued to move up the field, but the effort stalled when they were stopped for a fourth down. That didn’t stop the Wolves offense as Isaiah Davis ran in to the end zone for a touchdown. And off went the cannon, making the score 7-7 10 minutes into the first quarter.
In what appeared to be a sack for the Wolves, Logan Skoda scrambled to get the ball to Resnick, who ran to the Wolves’ 1-yard line before being brought down. After first being stopped, Skoda threw a completion for a touchdown. With the extra point, the Jaguars went up 14-7.
Going into the second quarter, the Wolves started with a third-down close to the halfway line. After a stop by Emerald Ridge, Skoda threw for a long touchdown. The point-after attempt was missed, but the Jaguars went up 20-7 with nine minutes to play in the half.
Several three- and-outs, and penalties committed by both teams, Emerald Ridge threw for a 28-yard gain to Andrew Boston for a first down. The Jaguars threw a 29-yard completion to Daniel Gregory for a first down on the one- yard line. Emerald Ridge quickly converted the touchdown to make the score 26-7. After a five-yard penalty on the extra point, Emerald Ridge went for the two-point conversion to Boston and completed the pass to go up 28-7.
With a 38–yard completion, the Wolves secured a first down with 4:50 left to play in the first half.
The Wolves continued to push as Davis ran the ball up the line to gain two first downs. After the Jags went helmet to helmet, creating an automatic first down for the Wolves, South scored a touchdown making the score 28-14 with 2:48 left to play in the half.
Following a Wolves fumble recovery, Taylor threw for a 51-yard gain. A pass intended for Izaijah Byrd went incomplete, but the Wolves scored a field goal to narrow the score to 28-17 with less than a minute to play in the first half.
The Jaguars kept pushing as the clock wound down, but JJ Leota kept making big stops for the Wolves. The Emerald Ridge offense, however, couldn’t convert, and the score remained 28-17 at the half.
The second half resumed with Leota making several big stops for the Wolves, making the Jaguars go three-and-out in their first possession.
Davis ran up the sideline for a first-and-goal for South. The Wolves turned this great run into a touchdown as the cannon sounded in the second half. With the blocked extra point by Resnick, the score was 28-23.
Emerald Ridge, again, went three-and-out and the Wolves got back the ball.
After Davis ran for three first downs, Taylor dumped the ball to Corey Carter for a 12-yard gain.
The Wolves capitalized on this, scoring to put them up 30-28.
The Emerald Ridge quarterback, who knows a thing or two about how to scramble, danced around South’s defense to move the Jaguars up the field. The Wolves stepped up their defense as they stymied Emerald Ridge for a fourth down with 3:21 to play in the third quarter.
An intended pass for Davis resulted in an Emerald Ridge interception at the Jaguars 20-yard line.
Leota racked up another sack for the Wolves, pushing the Jaguars to third-and-15 at the end of the third quarter.
The referees began throwing flags left and right, slowing down both teams’ offenses in the start of the fourth quarter.
After three consecutive fouls against the Jaguars, Skoda threw for a 32-yard completion putting Emerald ridge on the three-yard line.
Another flag was thrown for an illegal man down the field, the Jaguars were denied a touchdown with 8:50 to play.
Three plays later, Andrew Boston caught a pass in the end zone, putting Emerald Ridge up 34-30, 8:24 left in the game. Michael Garcia prevented any additional points for the Jaguars, batting down the two-point conversion.
After a first-down conversion by the Wolves, however, a pass intended for Byrd was intercepted by the Jaguars at the Wolves 45 with 6:45 left in the game.
As the Jaguars worked their way down the field, Kadon Anderson intercepted a pass, giving the ball back to the Wolves at the 3:30 mark.
After getting sacked on the one-yard line, the Wolves turned over the ball on downs giving Emerald Ridge back the ball In dangerous position.
With 1:35 to play, the Wolves came up with a huge effort to stop Emerald Ridge on the one-yard line. Trying for a fourth-down conversion, Leota came up huge, preventing Emerald Ridge from scoring.
However, the first play in the Wolves’ redemption effort resulted in an interception by the Jaguars, preventing the Wolves homecoming comeback.
The Jaguars ran the clock down, ending the game 34-30.
South Kitsap will attempt to grab its first win at Stadium of Tacoma at 1 p.m. Oct. 24.
