The Spartans were ousted from the playoffs Saturday, losing to the Chatfield Chargers by a final score of 14-10.
by Scott Bruskin
photo by Kevin Fleming
The 2008 Thomas Jefferson Spartan football season came to a disappointing and abrupt end Saturday night, as they fell to the Chatfield Chargers by a score of 14-10.
The most disparaging thing about this loss was that the Spartan defense played very strong all game long, as they held the Chargers to zero total offensive points. The Chargers’ only two touchdowns of the game came off of an interception which was returned 32 yards for a touchdown, and a 56 yard punt which was also returned for a touchdown. Special team play lead the Chargers to this first-round victory.
The game started off very predictably as both offenses opened up very cautiously. After the end of the first quarter, the score was knotted at zero.
The second quarter was much of the same, as the dominating defenses began to wear the opponents’ offenses down. A Keenan Moore field goal gave the Spartans the outright lead, and that would be the way the game would go into halftime, with TJ leading Chatfield tentatively 3-0.
The 3rd quarter would see one thing that the other quarters did not see: an offensive touchdown. Immediately following a Chatfield punt for a touchback, Senior Running Back, Jordan McGee, took a hand-off and scooted 80 yards for a crafty Spartan Touchdown. The momentum then went back and forth with each team punting the ball a few times until one Spartan punt was returned 56 yards by Chatfield’s Scott Kellogg for a touchdown. Then, only a few plays later, TJ Spartan Quarterback Zac Jackson’s pass was intercepted by a Chatfield defender, who then proceeded to rumble 32 yards for a second Charger touchdown. “We did not play our best when we needed to,” said Sophomore Linebacker Robert McMackin.
If you thought the Spartans would just throw in the towel after two momentum-killing touchdowns, then you could not have been more wrong. The Spartans drove the ball down into the Charger red-zone with just under two minutes remaining in the game. Going for the game winning touchdown, Jackson heaved the ball into the end zone, and while going up for the grab, Junior Billy Sprague shoved the Chatfield defender out of the way, and was called for offensive pass interference. However, had Sprague not shoved his man out of the way, the ball would have been easily intercepted. After the 10 yard setback, the Spartans faced a challenging third and fourteen. TJ was stopped cold on the third down play, and was forced to go for it on fourth and fourteen. The Spartans failed on their fourth down conversion, and the ball was turned over to the Chargers. The Chargers knelt on the ball a few times, and were able to escape All City Field with a victory.
TJ had a good season and will stay in the minds of the Chargers as a resilient team who showed great heart and character.
Scoring Summary
Team Play Time Players
2nd Quarter
Thomas Jefferson FG – Keenan Moore for 42 yards
3rd Quarter
Thomas Jefferson RUN – Jordan McGee for 80 yards – CONV: kick made by Keenan Moore for 1 points
Chatfield PUNTRETURN – Scott Kellogg for 56 yards – CONV: kick made by Shay Borrego for 1 points
Chatfield INTERCEPTIONRETURN – Greg Kelsic for 32 yards – CONV: kick made by Shay Borrego for 1 points
Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4
Chatfield (6-4) 0 0 14 0 14 FINAL
Thomas Jefferson (6-4) 0 3 7 0 10
November 1, 2008 – All City Stadium
Chatfield Passing
CP/AT YDS TD INT
Sam Stratton 18/22 172 0 1
Thomas Jefferson Passing
CP/AT YDS TD INT
Zach Jackson 5/20 77 0 3
Chatfield Rushing
CAR YDS AVG TD LG
Brennan Gallegos 8 46 5.8 0 –
Shaw Gifford 4 16 4.0 0 –
Thomas Jefferson Rushing
CAR YDS AVG TD LG
Jordan McGee 8 136 17 0 –
Matt Averyhart 22 100 4.5 0 –
Jared Lewis 4 16 4 0 –
Micheal Craig 3 15 5 0 –
Nasheed Robinson 2 10 5 0 –
Chatfield receiving
REC YDS AVG TD LG
Scott Kellogg 8 50 6.2 0 –
Brennan Gallegos 1 39 39.0 0 –
Kyle Slavin 3 38 12.7 0 –
Nathan Neville 3 36 12.0 0 –
Shaw Gifford 1 2 2.0 0 –
Thomas Jefferson receiving
REC YDS AVG TD LG
Billy Sprague 4 65 16.2 0 –
