TJ 49 vs Yough 20

Special teams, defense lead Thomas Jefferson over Yough

By Kevin Taylor

Friday, Oct. 23, 2015, 11:09 p.m.

Updated 22 hours ago

No. 7 Thomas Jefferson had run only seven plays on offense by the time it was up 35 points over Yough at the end of the first quarter Friday night.

That's because the Jaguars had their defense and special teams making big plays to put away the Cougars early.

Thomas Jefferson (6-2, 6-2) picked up a 49-20 Big 10 Conference win, but the hosts had the game well in hand leading 49-0 late in the second quarter.

“We took advantage of their mistakes and did what we had to do,” Jaguars coach Bill Cherpak said. “We had a short field twice because of our defense, we scored on special teams, blocked a punt.

“I don't think our offense ran too many plays. We've been working hard on the special teams and defense. It showed tonight.”

Zane Zandier returned a punt 72 yards for a touchdown the first time Thomas Jefferson touched the ball. It was the first of two punt-return touchdowns for the 6-foot-3 wide receiver/defensive back, the second of which was a 71-yarder that made it 49-0.

TJ's Peter Metro blocked a punt following Yough's second possession. TJ took over at the Yough 18, and three plays later, Quinton Hill ran 10 yards for a score.

Yough (1-7, 1-7) had its next possession end on Ryan Scanlon's 40-yard interception return for a touchdown.

The havoc caused by TJ's defense and special teams continued when a long snap went over the head of Yough punter Jordan Bryan, who fell on the ball at his own 2.

After a procedure penalty, Hill scored from 7 yards out for a 28-0 lead.

Zandier capped off the impressive first half with a 21-yard interception return that set up Braden Pahanhish's 13-yard scoring run.

Yough scored on a 25-yard pass from Ryan Everly to Bryan, which made it 49-6 at the half.

The Cougars scored the final three touchdowns of the game, although TJ went to its bench after it was 49-0.

“It was definitely them who forced us into the mistakes,” Yough coach Mark Crovak said. “But they were very gracious. They could've named their score tonight. They're a class organization. (Cherpak's) a class guy and could've embarrassed us with the final score if he wanted.”

Everly finished 11 for 16 passing for 125 yards. He connected with Bryan six times for 107 yards. Ben Baldwin added a 45-yard scoring run in the fourth.

The Jaguars needed only 155 total yards (146 rushing) to amass their 49 points, but the other two phases had big plays.

“We've changed some things on the punt return with Zane (Zandier) back their by himself,” Cherpak said. “He's a great athlete capable of making those plays. We need him to do that as we get into games against West Mifflin and beyond.

“Our defensive staff has done a great job getting this defense ready. For the most part, our defense had a shutout tonight. It's been like that for four or five weeks.”

TJ takes its six-game winning streak to West Mifflin next week. Asked if he likes where his team is, Cherpak said yes.

“I think we are, finally,” he said. “I wanted (quarterback) Bobby (Kelley) to throw it some more since last week was his first week back. I like where are. We need to play defense like tonight and have no turnovers.”