COLUMBIA — It was a night to forget for the Jefferson City Jays.
The Jays turned the ball over four times and were blanked in the second half, leading to a 29-14 victory for the Battle Spartans in Central Missouri Activities Conference play.
“It doesn’t feel good,” Jefferson City coach Damon Wells said. “But I do believe there is a tremendous opportunity to learn and grow from this and progress.”
Battle got started early.
It took the Spartans just four plays to drive 82 yards, and Alex Fernandez hit Jayden Donnelly for a 70-yard touchdown on the final play of the drive to give Battle an early 7-0 lead following the first of three made PATs by Patrick Nkongoro.
“We didn’t limit explosives and we turned the ball over four times,” Wells said. “That’s definitely not a recipe for success. But like I mentioned, if we can learn from it and grow from it, we’ll be better for it.”
Jefferson City fumbled the ball away on its opening snap from scrimmage and the Spartans took over at their own 44-yard line to follow.
The Jays were able to force a three-and-out and got the ball back at their own 22.
Jefferson City was able to drive 78 yards in 11 plays and punched in a touchdown on a 2-yard Jacob Wilson quarterback sneak. The extra-point attempt missed wide right and the Spartans were able to cling to a 7-6 with 1:47 left.
“I was proud of the boys and I was proud of their fight,” Wells said.
Following a Battle punt, the Jays turned it over for the second time as Donnelly was able to jump an out route for an interception and return it to the Jays’ 35.
Eight plays later, Chris Brown ran in a 16-yard Wildcat keeper to extend the lead to 14-6 with 5:34 left before halftime.
Jefferson City had an answer this time, though.
On the 10th play of the drive with the Jays facing a third-and-15 at the Spartan 28, Zach Barnes took a delayed, misdirection handoff 28 yards to the end zone.
Lakendrie Carlisle ran in the 2-point conversion, and the two sides went to the locker room tied at 14.
“That was huge,” Wells said. “We want to always try to win the middle eight, and that coupled with the fact we were getting the ball off halftime, I thought really gave us an opportunity.”
Both teams’ first possession of the second half came up empty, and the Jays missed a golden opportunity to take the lead to follow.
Jefferson City had the ball second-and-7 at the Spartan 13, but Carlisle had the ball punched out on the carry, and Battle took back over at its own 6.
Six plays later, Fernandez hit Daqual Wright for a 55-yard touchdown to put the Spartans ahead for good. Following an illegal substitution penalty on the PAT, Brown ran in the 2-point to make it 22-14 with 10:57 left in the game.
The Jays turned it over on downs in Battle territory to follow, and the Spartans put the game away with an 11-play, 65-yard drive that ended with a Kee’on Marshall 3-yard touchdown to create the final margin with 2:37 left.
Wilson was picked off for the second time on the following possession, and Battle was able to kneel out the clock after picking up one first down.
Jefferson City (4-4, 3-3 CMAC) was led by Barnes with 16 carries for 93 yards and a touchdown. Wilson finished 4-for-11 passing for 67 yards and two interceptions while adding 9 rushing yards and a score.
Battle (3-5, 3-3) was led by Marshall with 22 carries for 138 yards and a touchdown, Wright had nine catches for 99 yards and a touchdown and Fernandez finished 13-of-21 passing for 168 yards and two scores.
The Jays will wrap up the regular season next Friday against Moberly, ranked No. 9 in Class 3 by the Missouri Media Rankings. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Adkins Stadium.