Jeannette rallies in 4th quarter to defeat Burrell

By: Andrew John
Friday, August 25, 2023 | 10:45 PM

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Many people might think the Jeannette Jayhawks aren’t the same as years past.

However, this year’s team started off on the right foot with a fourth-quarter comeback as they try to restore the program back to its former glory.

The Jayhawks traveled to Burrell to defeat the Bucs, 16-13, in nonconference play Friday at Buccaneer Stadium.

Jeannette scored on back-to-back drives in the fourth quarter to erase a six-point deficit.

“I thought we played a clean first half. I thought we were close, but we sputtered a little on offense. We came together as a staff and really dissected the issues and went forward with the second-half game plan. We had a tough camp, and we were hard on the guys. We felt like we were in better shape tonight,” Jeannette coach Tommy Paulone said.

Senior quarterback Payton Molter scored his second touchdown of the night on a 1-yard run to tie the score 13-13 with over six minutes remaining in regulation.

The drive started on Jeannette’s 46-yard-line after Burrell turned it over on downs. The Jayhawks dialed up play calls to showcase their screen game, which hadn’t been on display until that point.

Senior Michael Mason took a screen pass for 11 yards. A few plays later, senior Noah Sanders took another screen pass for 14 yards down to the Bucs 13-yard line.

“They (Burrell) were flying around bringing pressure, and we knew we could catch them with a screen since we hadn’t shown it all game. Michael Mason and Noah Sanders did a great job on those plays. We had some great downfield blocking on those plays. We really pride ourselves on that,” Paulone said.

Molter called his own number the next play and ran for 12 yards to the 1-yard line.

Even after a botched snap on the PAT, the Bucs still had plenty of time with their Wing-T offense to retake the lead. However, Burrell found itself in a fourth-and-medium situation. Junior quarterback Stephen Hasson rolled out to his left but lost control of the ball. Noah Sanders picked it up for the Jayhawks and returned it to the Bucs 9-yard line.

“I give credit to Jeannette. They made plays when they needed to, and unfortunately, we didn’t. I’ll take the blame for that. We didn’t play well, and we made too many mistakes. In the first game, you will have some of that,” Burrell coach Shawn Liotta said.

With less than a minute remaining, the Bucs stood up Molter at the 1-yard line and almost stripped the Jayhawk quarterback of the ball, but the referees had blown the play dead.

Paulone, the Jayhawks second-year coach, decided to trust his kicker even after the bad snap on the previous PAT attempt. Senior kicker Austin Emery kicked a 21-yard field goal with 43 seconds remaining to give Jeannette a 16-13 lead.

Freshman Jayce Powell picked off Hasson to seal the game for Jeanette.

“We wanted to keep our heads up the entire time. We started to click again. The defense started to get the stops we needed and the offense got the big plays we needed,” Molter said.

The Bucs rode the back of senior running back Devin Beattie, who rushed for 121 yards on 27 carries and two touchdowns.

On the opening drive, Beattie had two big rushes of 10 and 12 yards before capping a nine-play drive that took about five minutes with a 2-yard run.

The Jayhawks responded on their opening drive when Molter kept it himself for a 22-yard run to tie it up with less than three minutes remaining in the first quarter.

On the ensuing kickoff, the Bucs fumbled the kick and Jeannette recovered. However, the Jeannette offense couldn’t capitalize on the Bucs mistake.

Beattie scored a 1-yard touchdown run to cap off a Bucs 56-yard drive to give Burrell a 13-6 lead, which they held at halftime.

The Bucs finished with 217 yards rushing, 139 yards coming in the first half.

“Our defensive staff made their adjustments. We started lining up our guys in the gaps, and they started bouncing it more and we made the plays,” Paulone said.

Molter finished with 121 yards rushing on 16 carries.

The Jayhawks, who only dressed 21 players, avenged the 31-10 loss at home against Burrell last season.

Tags: Burrell, Jeannette