Big W
Jasper hands Barbers Hill first home loss since 2002
By JIMMY GALVAN Managing Editor

Newsboy photo/Georgia Purdy JASPER'S DERRICK DAY (16) grabs a touchdown pass in the second quarter between two Barbers Hill defenders. Jasper defeated the Eagles 27-13

Jasper needed to get into the win column early for a boost to their confidence.

Senior Malcolm Bronson made sure the Bulldogs got that victory.

Bronson, who switched to defense this week, grabbed three interceptions and returned two for touchdowns to lead the Dawgs to a stunning 27-13 victory over Barbers Hill on the road.

"We have said all along that we have the kids and the talent but we have to build that confidence level," said Jasper Head Football Coach Thomas Brooks. "When you are not winning you make mistakes that you shouldn't be making and when you start winning those mistakes go away and you start getting better and better.

"They enjoyed the feeling after a big win on the road and hopefully we can get on a little roll now," Brooks said. "It was good to get this win before district."

What was even more impressive about the victory is it was Barbers Hill's first home loss since the Eagles fell to Huffman in 2002.

Newsboy photo/Georgia Purdy JASPER'S ZACH RIGGINS kicks an extra point during Jasper's 27-13 victory over Barbers Hill Friday, Sept. 7.

"The key to the game was that we eliminated some of the turnovers," Brooks said. "We tell our kids that the worse thing we can do on offense is punt and then we play defense."

In fact, Bronson sealed the contest late in the fourth quarter when he returned an interception 70 yards for a touchdown as Barbers Hill put up one last gasp at knotting the contest with 30 seconds left.

Bronson stepped in front of a Chris Bradshaw pass on the left sideline and then reversed his field and scampered down the right sideline for the score to finish off Barbers Hill.

"One week it's offense and the next week it's defense but that is how Malcolm is," Brooks said of the talented senior. "He has to play on both sides of the ball for us. This week he played a little bit more on defense and you see what happened. We need to have him on the field."

The game started out pretty much the same way it ended as Bronson was a key instrument in the Dawgs first score of the night.

After a 66-yard return by senior Darren Bronson, Jasper moved down to the Barbers Hill 15 before turning the ball

over on downs to the Eagles.

One play later, though, Jasper and Bronson reached the end zone.

Bronson intercepted a Tony Carmona pass and returned it 24 yards for a touchdown with 10:23 left in the first quarter. After the PAT failed, Jasper held a quick 6-0 lead.

The Eagles gave themselves a golden scoring opportunity on their ensuing drive after a 52-yard return by Andrew Little to the Jasper 32.

But Bronson stopped this drive with his second interception of the night and he returned it 19 yards to the Jasper 30.

After the Bulldogs went three and out on the drive, Barbers Hill set up to get back into the contest. Starting from their own 47, the Eagles drove 53 yards on seven plays to knot the score.

The Eagles used the running of Little and Carmona to move down the field against Jasper. After Carmona covered a first down with a run to the Jasper 22, the junior quarterback found Jay Burditt in the end zone for a 22-yard scoring connection.

The score, with 3:57 left in the first quarter, tied the score at 6-all.

Late in the first quarter, Jasper finally got its offense moving. The Bulldogs moved the ball behind the right arm of quarterback Cameron Stubblefield against a sometimes porous Barbers Hill pass defense.

Starting from their own 34, Jasper moved to take control of the contest again.

Last week against Livingston, Stubblefield connected with Bronson through the air but this week his favorite target was junior Kwame Spikes, who hauled in seven passes for 117 yards.

"When we played sevenon seven I saw that he could get open and it showed against Barbers Hill," Brooks said. "Cameron did a good job of finding him and giving him a good chance to catch the football and Kwame has great hands. We just expect him to catch anything thrown at him."

Two straight passes to Spikes moved the ball into Eagles' territory at the Barbers hill 35. After Octavious Rawls busted down to the Barbers Hill 22, Stubblefield went to the air to light up the Jasper scoreboard once again.

This time, Stubblefield connected with senior Derrick Day for a 22-yard scoring connection with one second left in the first quarter.

The score, with a PAT by Zach Riggins, gave Jasper a 13-6 lead as the first quarter ended.

Day, who is the punter for the team, came into the game to give a receiver a breather and ended up scoring a touchdown.

"We have a good punter in Day and he's been doing a real good job as the punter," Brooks said. "He didn't start at receiver but we have guys who come in and we don't have a big drop in talent."

Barbers Hill looked to be ready to challenge Jasper's lead on the next possession. The Eagles quickly moved down the field behind the running of Little and Carmona and reached the Jasper 23.

Facing a fourth-and-two call, Bronson again stepped up and thwarted the drive for the Eagles. Carmona found a wide-open Carter Smith near the first-down marker but a jarring hit by Bronson separated the ball and turned the ball back over on downs to Jasper.

The Bulldogs would pad their lead on the ensuing drive.

This time, Jasper would feature an offensive star from last year - sophomore Dominique Bailey. The Dawgs moved down the field by mixing their passing and running before Stubblefield found Bailey on the right sideline and let the speedy sophomore do the rest.

Bailey scored from 22 yards out to give Jasper a 19-6 lead with 5:51 left in the second quarter. That is where the score stood at the halftime break.

In the second half, Barbers Hill came out with a renewed effort. The Eagles took the second half kick off and drove right down the field behind the right arm of Bradshaw.

The drive reached the Jasper one before the Dawgs put on a defensive stop that would save the game. Faced with a third and goal from the one, Little was stopped for a two-yard loss back to the Jasper 3.

The Eagles elected to go for the touchdown and when Jasper's Dante Rollins pressured Bradshaw into an errant pass, the Dawgs had stopped the Eagles' scoring threat.

"On Wednesday of the game week, we practiced our goal-line defense and we reminded them on that when Barbers Hill got down there," Brooks said. "The kids took pride in that and it's not over until they pass that line. They can be down to the one-inch line, it don't matter. That was a big goal-line series for us."

The next time the Eagles touched the ball they would reach the end zone.

As the seconds ticked away on the third quarter, Bradshaw connected with Smith on an 80-yard scoring connection as he outran the Jasper defenders to the end zone and the score.

The touchdown, with eight seconds left in the third quarter, cut Jasper's lead to 19-13 after Joe Sexton's PAT.

But that would be as close as Barbers Hill would come to the lead the rest of the night.

Jasper milked the clock in the fourth quarter and cut time off of it using the running of Kaddaroe Rawls. One Jasper drive stalled and ended at the Barbers Hill six when Jarod Michalsky intercepted a Stubblefield pass to end the drive.

While Jasper was plagued by the fumble bug last week, this week the Bulldogs held onto the ball and didn't place it on the ground.

"The guys ran through the line of scrimmage with both hands on the ball and when they got in traffic they wrapped it up," Brooks said. "If we had done that last week, we would be sitting here 2-0 but you can't look back. You can only look forward and keep improving and I see us improving from the first game to the second game.

"The kids sometimes may have that doubt about their talent but now I think they are starting to believe in their talent," Brooks said.

DAWG NOTES: Jasper travels to Newton this Friday to take on the Eagles in a 7:30 kickoff…Senior Trae Horn sat out the Barbers Hill contest but is expected back this week against Newton…Senior David Beck suffered a fractured ankle in the Nederland scrimmage and not expected back for four to six weeks.

"I looked on the injury report this week and there are only three names on it this week," Brooks said. "For a while, we had 11 or 12 on the injury list. I used to dread seeing the list. We should be healthy going into district."