Posted 2:14 am Saturday, August 29, 2009
Johnson Powers John Tyler Past Tigers
By HAROLD WILSON
Staff Writer
TEXARKANA -- With its NASCAR offense on full display and quarterback Jeremy Johnson steering the drives, John Tyler throttled Texas High 41-17 in the season opener Friday at Tiger Stadium at Grim Park.
Staff Writer
TEXARKANA -- With its NASCAR offense on full display and quarterback Jeremy Johnson steering the drives, John Tyler throttled Texas High 41-17 in the season opener Friday at Tiger Stadium at Grim Park.
Johnson accounted for 324 yards of offense and four touchdowns as John Tyler mounted a convincing win over the Class 4A power, which started the season ranked No. 12 in the state.
The JT offense sped up the pace early, scoring twice in its first six plays. After Texas High closed to within three points (13-10), JT switched gears to a ball-control offense as the Lions found the end zone on all four of their second-half possessions.
JT (1-0) finished with 460 yards of offense and moved ahead of Texas High in the head-to-head department after entering the game deadlocked at 18-18-1 in the all-time series.
The Lions also ended a three-game losing streak to the Tigers while avenging a 42-14 loss to the same team in last year's opener.
"The kids came out and executed the things we worked on in practice," JT coach Dereck Rush said. "The seniors walked up to me this summer and talked about all the teams they hadn't beaten as seniors. This was one of the teams. It was motivation for those guys to beat Texas High."
Johnson rushed for 159 yards on 14 carries. The Southern Methodist committ scampered 71 yards on a keeper early in the fourth quarter to put the game out of reach. The senior signal-caller also completed 12 of 18 passes for 165 yards, including a 55-yard TD strike to fellow SMU committ Ricky Collins barely three minutes into the contest.
Collins caught a team-high four passes for 79 yards and junior receiver David Bush matched him with four receptions and 67 yards.
"We were going fast, but we can go faster," Johnson said while he walked toward the JT locker room. "That was our first time going Nascar against a new team. We've got so many weapons. It's hard for teams to defend us."
After running the ball only 13 times in the first half, JT kept the ball on the ground 30 times following the intermission. JT ended the game with 295 yards rushing, with Ky'Ordric Black supplying 75 yards and two TDs on 17 totes and Kedrick Chancellor contributing 54 yards on eight attempts.
Black burst into the end zone twice, on an 8-yard run early to give JT a 13-0 lead, and again from seven yards back for the exclamation point.
Texas High quarterback Nathan Sorenson, committed to Oklahoma State, proved the Tigers' main weapon. Soreson connected on 13 of 223 passes for 138 yards, inlcuding two TD passes to Jo Jo Thurman - the first to cut JT's lead to 13-7 and the second to get the Tigers within 10 of the Lions (27-17).
The JT defense, who played without Texas commit Ashton Dorsey in the second half, limited Texas High to 99 total yards and five first downs after halftime.
After holding onto the ball for just nine minutes in the first half, JT retained possession more than 16 of the final 24 minutes.
Before leaving the game injured, Dorsey made three tackles. Alvin Arps, a senior linebacker, topped the Lions with eigh tstops, with senior corneback Darrien Starling making five tackles and Dale Bowser recovering a fumble for the game's lone turnovers.
"In the second half we couldn't get the ball from them," Texas High coach Barry Norton said. "They wore our defense down. They've got a real good football team."
John Tyler 41, Texas High 17
John Tyler 13 0 14 14 -- 41
John Tyler 13 0 14 14 -- 41
Texas High 7 3 0 7 -- 17
First Quarter
JT -- Ricky Collins 55 pass from Jeremy Johnson (kick failed), 8:56
First Quarter
JT -- Ricky Collins 55 pass from Jeremy Johnson (kick failed), 8:56
JT -- Ky'Ordric Black 8 run (Julian Varona kick), 5:02
TEX -- Jo Jo Thurman 8 pass from Nathan Sorenson (Josh Moore kick), 0:42
Second Quarter
TEX -- FG 27 Moore, 5:31
Third Quarter
TEX -- FG 27 Moore, 5:31
Third Quarter
JT -- Johnson 5 run (Varona kick), 7:16
JT-Johnson 5 run (Varona kick), 0:42
JT-Johnson 5 run (Varona kick), 0:42
Fourth Quarter
TEX-Thurman 34 pass from Sorenson (Moore kick), 10:07
TEX-Thurman 34 pass from Sorenson (Moore kick), 10:07
JT -- Johnson 71 run (Varona kick), 8:04
JT -- Black 7 run (Varona kick), 3:18
JT -- Black 7 run (Varona kick), 3:18
EST.ATT. -- 7000.
JT TH
First Downs 24 15
Rushes-Yards 43-295 28-110
JT TH
First Downs 24 15
Rushes-Yards 43-295 28-110
Passing Yards 165 138
Com.-Att.-Int. 12-18-0 1322-0
Com.-Att.-Int. 12-18-0 1322-0
Punts-Avg. 1-44.0 3-35.0
Fumbles-Lost 1-0 2-1
Fumbles-Lost 1-0 2-1
Penatlies-Yards 10-67 10-92
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING -- John Tyler, Jeremy Johnson 14-159, Ky'Ordric Black 17-75, Kedrick Chancellor 8-54, David Bush 2-7, Demetree Curtis 1-1, Team 1-(-1). Texas High, Nathan Sorenson 14-72, Cody Sutton
12-44, Travis Turner 1-5, Team 1-(-11).
PASSING -- John Tyler, Johnson 12-18-0 -- 165. Texas High, Sorenson 13-22-0 -- 138.
PASSING -- John Tyler, Johnson 12-18-0 -- 165. Texas High, Sorenson 13-22-0 -- 138.
RECEIVING -- John Tyler, Ricky Collins 4-79, Bush 4-67, Black 2-13, Chancellor 2-6. Texas High, Logan Preston 4-54, Jo Jo Thurman 3-50, Sutton 3-6, Latrell Beasley 2-24, Brandon Welch 1-4.
