Dawson Jaco throws five touchdowns to lead Bushland past Canadian 47-21
HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL
NON-DISTRICT
BUSHLAND 47, CANADIAN 21
What this game means: For Bushland, this was the definition of a statement win. After starting off the year with a lopsided win over West Plains, the Falcons took advantage of early miscues by Canadian and maintained control throughout en route to the 47-21 victory. It was a team effort, but junior quarterback Dawson Jaco deserves the game ball after going 19-of-25 for 247 yards and five touchdowns. For Canadian, this was a disappointing setback after starting the year off with a lopsided victory of its own. While the offense moved the ball well at times, they committed five turnovers to put Bushland in good position throughout the night. The run defense was smothering, but penalties and missed coverages plagued the Wildcats as they will look to bounce back next week.
Game highlights: After starting with a three-and-out, Canadian had a high snap on a punt attempt result in Bushland taking over at the Wildcat 1-yard line. Though Bushland had back-to-back plays for a loss, Jaco found Cole Purcell for a 7-yard score on third down to put Bushland up. Canadian fumbled on the first play of the next drive and Charley Pitt recovered to give Bushland the ball at the Canadian 19-yard line. That possession ended with Jaco hitting Purcell for a 9-yard scoring pass. Canadian quarterback Camren Cavalier hit Trace Mitchell for a 61-yard touchdown pass to make it 13-7, but the next Wildcat possession ended with Cavalier throwing a pick-six to Purcell to make it 20-7. In the second quarter, Jaco hit Baylor King for a 21-yard touchdown pass on fourth down and Cavalier broke free for a 36-yard touchdown run with 52 second to go until halftime to bring the Wildcats within 27-14. Jaco hit King for a 67-yard touchdown connection in the third before Cavalier responded with an eight-yard scoring run. The Falcons put it out of reach in the fourth with a 13-yard touchdown pass to Breckan Reed and a 48-yard touchdown run by King.
Stars of the game: Did you read the headline? Jaco was nearly flawless on the evening with five scores. Give a shoutout to Purcell (three touchdowns) and King (three catches for 100 yards and two total touchdowns) for their outstanding efforts. The entire defense deserves a shoutout for forcing five turnovers and compiling six sack, but Pitt was seemingly everywhere all evening. Easton Fuentes and Matthew Bridges spent the bulk of the night in the opposing backfield as they each finished with 1 1/2 sacks. Austin Rider led the Falcons with two sacks. Mitchell finished with three catches for 101 yards and a score for Canadian while Cavalier ran for 85 yards and passed for 164.
Jaco on his emotions after the game: "It was a lot of fun. Canadian's competitive every year, so it was great to come out and win a big game here at home. It was a lot of fun."
Purcell on Jaco's big evening: "He just made it look so easy. He just put it on us and let us do our deal. He's a really good quarterback and we're glad to have him.
Bushland head coach Josh Reynolds on the Falcons' confidence level: "I think it's about as high as you could want it to be when you start 2-0 and beat two quality teams. Canadian is a team that's going to be contending for 3A Division II by the end of the year. I guarantee you they'll be there. It's early and it doesn't have any bearing on our district race or the playoffs. It's a good win that tomorrow morning we learn from and then we forget about. We have to get ready for Childress because they have a great team as well."
Canadian head coach Chris Koetting on what to take away from the loss: "We've just got to get better. We had five turnovers and Bushland's a dang good team so you can't do that. We struggled offensively all the way through. We've just got to get better.
Up next: Bushland will host Childress Friday at 7 p.m. while Canadian will visit Elk City on Friday at 7 p.m.
Bushland 47, Canadian 21
Bushland 20 7 7 13 -- 47
Canadian 7 7 7 0 -- 21
First Quarter
Bushland- Cole Purcell 7 pass from Dawson Jaco (kick blocked) 9:39
Bushland- Purcell 9 pass from Jaco (Westin Forbes kick) 7:32
Canadian- Trace Mitchell 61 pass from Camren Cavalier (Emiliano Hernandez kick) 6:25
Bushland- Corey Purcell 9 interception return (Forbes kick) 4:09
Second Quarter
Bushland- Baylor King 21 pass from Jaco (Forbes kick) 10:26
Canadian- Cavalier 36 run (Hernandez kick) 0:52
Third Quarter
Bushland- King 67 pass from Jaco (Forbes kick) 8:47
Canadian- Cavalier 8 run (Hernandez kick) 2:15
Fourth Quarter
Bushland- Breckan Reed 13 pass from Jaco (kick no good) 11:52
Bushland- King 48 run (Forbes kick) 10:21
TEAM STATISTICS
Canadian Bushland
First downs 10 7
Rushes-yards 44-168 29-39
Passing yards 164 247
Comp.-att.-int 8-19-1 19-25-0
Punts-avg. 2-39.5 3-33.7
Fumbles-lost 4-4 2-1
Penalties-yards 8-60 7-70
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING
Bushland- Dawson Jaco 10-(-21), Ivan Soto 14-14, Stratton Malloy 1-(-1), Baylor King 2-44, Easton Fuentes 2-3; Canadian- Isay Ramirez 7-8, Camren Cavalier 25-85, Eric Avila 6-14, Matt McLanahan 5-59, Kaden Crooks 1-2
PASSING
Bushland- Dawson Jaco 19-25-0 247; Canadian- Camren Cavalier 8-19-1 164
RECEIVING
Bushland- Baylor King 3-100, Breckan Reed 3-26, Cole Purcell 6-55, Tate Butcher 2-16, Austin Rider 2-14, Kade Gavina 2-41, Westin Forbes 1-4; Canadian- Preston Miller 4-45, Trace Mitchell 3-101, Matt McLanahan 1-13
This article originally appeared on Amarillo Globe-News: Dawson Jaco throws 5 touchdowns to lead Bushland past Canadian 47-21
