Despite a disappointing setback in week 1 against Southern Regional, Jackson Memorial High School football coach Mike Smith wasn’t overly concerned with how his team would bounce back from the loss. Smith and his coaching staff addressed a number of issues during an intense week of practice. Week 2 produced a different result.
The Jaguars looked like a different team last Saturday as they posted a resounding 42-17 victory over visiting Marlboro in a Shore Conference American Division game.
“I wasn’t really too worried about how our guys were going to play against Marlboro this week,” Smith said. “We had a very good week of practice. The kids worked extremely hard and we took a long look at some of the things that went wrong against Southern. I thought we did a good job of preparing them for this game.”
Indeed, the Jackson offense finally got started. Against Southern, the Jaguars struggled to find consistency on offense. Any kind of drive Jackson mounted stalled due to a mistake or poor execution.
Against Marlboro, the offense looked much improved.
“We did a much better job,” Smith said. “Our offensive line did a lot of good work and we executed the way we are capable of. We like to run the football. We need to run to have success.”
Running back Donald Murphy and quarterback John Cirri spearheaded the offensive attack. Murphy rushed for 175 yards and scored three touchdowns. Cirri was just as impressive, completing 10 of 12 attempts for 140 yards. Cirri passed for one TD and rushed for another.
“Both of those guys had exceptional games,” Smith said. “They definitely presented problems for the Marlboro offense. But everything offensively started with the blocking. Without that, we’re not going to be effective.”
Jackson scored first and held a 14-7 lead after the first quarter. But the Jags built a comfortable 28-10 lead by the half with a pair of touchdowns in the second quarter. Murphy scored two of his three touchdowns in the opening quarter on runs of 11 and 4 yards. He later electrified fans with a 45- yard run.
Jackson visits Toms River East tonight at 7 p.m. Smith expects a tough battle.
“They are probably one of the best teams around,” Smith said. “They are big and strong and very talented in the skill positions. We’re going to need and step up defensively.”
In other local action, Northern Burlington knocked off New Egypt 55-34 in a game that saw 10 turnovers and nearly 800 yards of offense.
“It was a wild game,” New Egypt coach Tom Farrell said.
Running back Langston Lacroix rushed for more than 200 yards. He scored three touchdowns as New Egypt trailed 34-30 after three quarters.
“Our guys continued to battle back in this game,” Farrell said. “They never quit and they continued to play hard.”