By Justin Sokeland
WBIW.com
JEFFERSONVILLE – Like weeds in the yard, or unholy vampires, or wrestling’s Undertaker, Jeffersonville refused to die. The Red Devils resurrected more times than the career of actor Robert Downey Jr. Bedford North Lawrence just kept driving the silver stakes in the heart.
With explosive plays on both sides of the ball, making more noise than that blasted cannon in the Jeffersonville end zone that fires when the Devils score, the Stars defined resilience with a bounce-back victory that had to be earned multiple times. No lead was safe.
Malakai Goodman, once again a warrior in time of trouble, a resuscitated defense that made a greater impact than the score indicates, and a clutch final drive defined a tough 42-35 triumph in BNL’s Hoosier Hills Conference opener on Friday night. Goodman erupted for 203 rushing yards, Beau Allender threw three touchdown passes in his varsity debut after a late-week change, and the Stars forced four turnovers while spoiling Senior Night and the home opener for the Red Devils.
What a wild night. BNL (2-1 overall, 1-0 in the league) gave up two interception returns for TDs, allowed 21 fourth-quarter points, yet made the delayed start and three-hour marathon battle worth all the sweat. They could have done without the late drama, when a 35-14 lead was almost squandered, but that just made it a little sweeter.
Heroes were all over the turf. Goodman scored three times, Jackson Jones returned an interception 73 yards for a breathless touchdown and made a sensational diving catch in the back corner of the end zone for another, and the Stars recorded five quarterback sacks with relentless pursuit. And won by one score, as Jeff quarterback Cordell Thomas authored a gutsy comeback that kept the Stars in angst mode.
“It just shows grit,” BNL’s Cam Gates said. “Last week (during a 41-40 loss to Bloomington North), we let up late in the game. We knew we could not do that, we had to keep going. It was a huge win, especially with all the injuries we’ve had.“
From the moment BNL’s first pass was deflected and returned for six points by Jeff defensive back D.J. Guy, until the Devils completed a fourth-down pass for a touchdown that trimmed BNL’s advantage to a single score, there was constant momentum changes and scoring chances. This was not a game for the faint of heart.
“We had to keep going,” Goodman said. “We have to be dogs out there, man up and go.”
Goodman was the Doberman, accounting for BNL’s first touchdown and the clutch last one, when the Devils scrambled back within 35-28 midway through the final frame and demanded a response. That drive – 81 yards in seven plays, six from Goodman, all on the ground – was an old-time-football answer.
Let’s back up to the start. After Guy snagged that first pass and raced 53 yards to put the Devils in front, BNL came back with Allender’s first touchdown pass, connecting with Goodman on a 16-yard swing route. The second score was set up by a deflected punt (with Riley Sons getting a paw on that), with Goodman dashing home from 23 yards. Then came the Jones theft as he stepped inside of a receiver, briefly bobbled the ball, then took off for the other end. He did get caught, but he made the goal line before hitting the turf as the Stars swarmed to a 21-7 lead.
“I was just all over it, took it to the house, almost got caught,” Jones said. “But I got in.”
Jeffersonville started the second half like the first. On the first pass, Guy jumped a telegraphed route to rocket 55 yards with his second pick-six. But again, the Stars were unfazed. Allender capped an 80-yard drive with a quick-slant strike to Gates, who made a stumbling snag and regained his footing to race 37 yards for a 28-14 lead. When Holton Nicholson recovered a Thomas fumble on the next series, that led to the Jones catch in the corner (with one foot down) for a 35-14 lead with 15 minutes left.
Start the last rites? Not yet. The Devils arose. Thomas was turned loose, and he made BNL pay for sloppy tackling with an elusive scramble, whirling free and finding Nation Roe-McBroom, who cut between defenders and bolted to a 47-yard touchdown. When BNL fumbled the following kickoff, Jeff scored again in 22 seconds, with Jaylen Howard blasting across from five yards. That got Jeff within 35-28 with 6:43 left.
“Anybody that’s watched this program over the years, once BNL got up 21-7, in years past that would have become 42-7,” Jeff first-year coach Nick Cotner said. “I’m proud that our guys fought. We just have to get better.
“In the second half, we opened it up. I should have done that sooner. And guys started making individual effort plays because they didn’t want to quit.”
That leads to the final BNL drive. Goodman crashed 20 yards, then broke free for 40 more. The Devils knew he was coming and could not stop him. After Allender converted a key third down with his own run, Goodman crashed the left side from 8 yards with 2:47 left.
“I can’t take all the credit, it was the line,’ Goodman said. “They”re dudes. They were big time, I just had to follow them. They do most of the work.”
Jeff’s final drive included a 38-yard bomb from Thomas to Brayton Gray and a fourth-down fling to Gray for a 28-yard TD with 1:44 left. But the Devils were out of timeouts, and the Stars lined up in kneel-down formation three straight times to kill off the clock.
Goodman broke four runs of 20-plus yards, backing up his school-record performance last week (289 yards and 5 TDs) with more heavy lifting. Allender threw for 82 yards. Grayson Gillespie had the first pick for the Stars.
“Really proud of Beau for stepping in on short notice and leading this offense,” BNL coach Brayden Tidd said. “I thought he played really well and the offensive line was really good again.
“We put the defense in some bad spots and gave Jeffersonville 14 free points. But Coach (Heath) Snider (the defensive coordinator) and those guys are figuring things out over there. I’m just really proud of my guys for stepping up, and some playing new positions because of injuries.”
Thomas completed 13 of 24 passes for 230 yards and two TDs, with Roe-McBroom catching 5 for 110 yards. The Devils (1-2 overall, 1-1 in the HHC) were limited to 43 rushing yards, in part because of the five sacks.
BNL will go back on the road next week, visiting New Albany. The Bulldogs (1-2) suffered a 54-0 loss to Brownstown in Week 3.
Bedford NL 7 14 14 7 – 42
Jeffersonville 7 0 7 21 – 35
First quarter
J – D.J. Guy, 53 interception return (Abigail Lemon kick), 7:03; BNL – Malakai Goodman, 16 pass from Beau Allender (Aiden Dralle kick), 3:51
Second quarter
BNL – Goodman, 23 run (Dralle kick), 10:11; BNL – Jackson Jones, 73 interception return (Dralle kick), 7:17
Third quarter
J – Guy, 55 interception return (Lemon kick), 11:01; BNL – Cam Gates, 37 pass from Allender (Dralle kick), 9:02; BNL – Jones, 15 pass from Allender (Dralle kick), 3:03
Fourth quarter
J – Nation Roe-McBroom, 47 pass from Cordell Thomas (Lemon kick), 7:04; J – Jaylen Howard, 5 run (Lemon kick), 6:43; BNL – Goodman, 8 run (Dralle kick), 2:47; J – Braylon Gray, 28 pass from Thomas (Lemon kick), 1:44
Team statistics
BNL – First downs 13 (11 by run, 1 by pass, 1 by penalty); Rushing 44-222; Passing 4-11-2-82; Total yards 304; Fumbles 3 (lost 1); Penalties 2-15
Jeff – First downs 8 (2 by run, 5 by pass, 1 by penalty); Rushing 18-43; Passing 13-24-2-230; Total yards 273; Fumbles 2 (lost 2); Penalties 8-65
Individual statistics
Rushing – (BNL) Allender 12-(-8), Goodman 27-203, Gilbert 5-27; (Jeff) Thomas 7-(-40), Howard 8-68, Guy 3-15
Passing – (BNL) Allender 4-11-2-82; (Jeff) Thomas 13-24-2-230
Receiving – (BNL) Gates 2-51, Goodman 1-16, Jones 1-15; (Jeff) Roe-McBroom 5-110, Gray 4-91, Berg 3-26, Howard 1-3
