JESSIEVILLE -- The visiting junior Beavers faced the brunt of Jessieville's defensive front led by defensive end Mason Schoonover, but a sluggish start for the Lions paved the way as Glen Rose held the hosts scoreless in first half en route to a 24-6 win Thursday night at Don Phillips Field.
Glen Rose quarterback Rein Bland staged clear chemistry with Draven McSpadden on three scoring targets including an eight-yard toss into the end zone for the Beavers' initial touchdown with 2:41 left in the first quarter. The conversion attempt was denied leaving the score, 6-0.
The visitors secured a 12-0 buffer going into the break after Bland found McSpadden on a 36-yard pass for a score at the 5:49 mark, but the Beavers failed to convert on the 2-point play.
"We're going back to some fundamentals on blocking," noted Jessieville junior high head football coach Ryan O'Neal. "We did great whenever we got in our heavy-set [and had] a lot of guys in the box just shoving it down their throat, but whenever we tried to spread them out, we couldn't stay on blocks and execute well [on] our X's and O's, and we need to."
The third quarter was comprised of multiple defenders on both sides crowding the line of scrimmage while wreaking havoc for any attempt at a scoring drive.
After logging a Lions' team-high five tackles for loss on the night, O'Neal recognized Schoonover to have stepped up on defense.
"Mason played great defensively for us at defensive end," he said. "[He's] a young guy who's kind of out of position. He's usually a linebacker for us this year, and we moved him to defensive end. It's started clicking for him, and [it's] probably the best game he's played so far this year."
Jessieville's Carson Freeland hauled in a 27-yard score with 7:18 on the clock in the final period, and the two-point conversion was again denied for a 12-6 spread.
Moments later, Bland once again targetted McSpadden down the seam while connecting on a 39-yard pass for a touchdown with six minutes remaining in the game for an 18-6 lead after the failed conversion.
Glen Rose's Gage Chaney nabbed 13 more rushing yards for a final score with 28 seconds left in the game to set the final.
"They're a good football team," said O'Neal. "We didn't execute. We didn't come out prepared mentally. [We] can't go three-and-out, three-and-out and give extra opportunities to the other team when they're a good team like they are. Multiple times [we] had the ball on the ground and couldn't come up with a turnover. Just couldn't execute at the end."
Sports on 10/19/2019