‘Everything was working.’ West Jessamine outslugs Collins for playoff victory.
A dynamic offense and a banged up defense meant one overriding strategy Thursday night for West Jessamine in its Class 5A, District 7 playoff game against Collins.
“We came into the game and said, ‘Guys, we’re not punting.’ That was our goal. ‘We’re not punting,’” West Jessamine Coach Scott Marsh said. “We’ve got to push the pedal to the metal every time we have it offensively. We’re really a beat up group defensively and just trying to piece it together.”
True to their game plan, the Colts did not punt and their defense surprised with a pair of third-quarter interceptions that helped West Jessamine pull away to a 51-39 victory over a Titans team that had beaten them just two weeks prior.
West Jessamine quarterback Jacob Jones threw for 146 yards and two touchdowns and ran for 125 yards and a score. His running back, Bryce Chestnut rushed for 148 yards and four TDs.
“Honestly, everything was working,” Jones said. “Our O-line was blocking great, our running back was running great, I was running good, our receivers were catching balls — I mean, nothing negative on offense.”
In West Jessamine’s 35-34 regular-season loss to Collins on Oct. 22, Chestnut had 99 yards and a touchdown, but the offense sputtered at times, putting the Colts behind and having to play catch-up. West Jessamine made sure not to repeat those mistakes.
“It was win or go home, so you’ve got to put your all into it,” Chestnut said. “In warm-ups, I was like, ‘This is the game.’ Last game I had quite a few yards, but this game I had to take it up a notch. My linemen helped out a bunch with that.”
Every first-half drive for each team resulted in a score, but a holding penalty on Collins’ third drive stalled its progress, forcing the Titans to kick a field goal. Ryan Koval’s 39-yard eked over the crossbar for a 17-14 lead midway through the second quarter.
West Jessamine answered with the first of two touchdown passes from Jones to Dalton Carter for a 21-17 lead with 1:59 left until halftime.
But that turned out to be plenty of time for Collins quarterback Kenyon Goodin to march the Titans down the field. Goodin hit Elijah Scott on a 38-yard pass play to the 2-yard line. Goodin then punched it in for a 23-21 lead after the extra point was blocked. That remained the halftime score.
West Jessamine took the second-half kickoff 72 yards down field in seven plays in just over two minutes for a 29-23 lead on Chestnut’s third TD of the game combined with Jones’ run for two points after.
With Collins driving into Colts territory again on their next series, West Jessamine’s Jayden Miller stepped in front of a Goodin pass to the sideline and picked it off at the 25-yard line. He returned it to the Collins 33.
In that moment, Jones sensed the game was theirs for the taking.
“Because I knew we were going to keep scoring,” Jones said. “It was huge. They threw the ball away, and then we come back and score and that puts pressure on them.”
On the ensuing possession, Jones pump-faked a screen pass and lofted the ball to a wide-open Carter from 18 yards out for a 37-23 lead with 3:53 left in the third quarter.
West Jessamine tacked on another score after freshman Chase Satterwhite picked off another Goodin pass as the Titans tried to get back in the game. Jones broke loose for a 35-yard TD for a 43-23 lead with 9:44 to go in the game. Later, Chestnut’s fourth TD and a Jones two-point conversion set the final margin.
Jones, just a junior, is the son of former Kentucky quarterback Pookie Jones. He put up a gaudy 2,067 passing yards with 17 TDs as a sophomore in leading the Colts to a 4-4 record. His passing stats are down this year (1,691 yards and 17 TDs), but his run production has soared (611 yards and 14 TDs). And the Colts (5-5) have won their first playoff game since 2010.
“I cannot say enough about the year that Jacob’s had,” Marsh said. “You know, Jacob maybe is not what he was last year from a statistical standpoint, but he’s had a million times better year — the dual-threat he gives us running the ball and throwing the ball.”
Though Goodin, also a junior like Jones, threw a pair of interceptions, he also put up some eye-popping offensive stats with 182 yards rushing and four TDs to go with 214 yards passing and a touchdown pass to Darius Evans.
While Titans Coach Jerry T. Lucas was disappointed in the loss, he said he’s hopeful for the future and thankful for the leadership his seniors have shown.
“Our senior class went through the hardest times we’ve had in our program. When they were freshmen and sophomores, we were 1-10 and 2-9 in two years, and what this senior class did was bring us back,” said Lucas, whose team finished 7-4 this season. “We’ve had two very solid seasons and now our program is on the upswing again. I think they are going to take great pride 10 years from now looking back at how they helped re-establish our program on a state level.”
Next week, West Jessamine will face the winner of Friday’s game between Woodford County and Madison Southern.
