Jacksonville tried to slow down the SHG football team. It worked — until it didn't

Sacred Heart-Griffin football's offense waited, and waited and waited some more to get on the field for the first time on Friday. The Cyclones wasted no time when they finally did.

It was a strange dichotomy in offensive styles. Jacksonville took 10 minutes, 58 seconds off the clock en route to a 7-0 lead. SHG needed just 78 seconds to answer with its own touchdown.

"Ty and I had to throw a little bit on the sideline just to stay warm," SHG senior Madixx Morris said of how he and senior quarterback Ty Lott spent their time, unable to take the field.

Jacksonville was unable to sustain its style while SHG had no such problems in a 55-14 Central State Eight Conference win on Friday at Ken Leonard Field.

High school football Week 4: Scores from around the Springfield area

Lott finished 16-for-20 for 279 yards, four touchdowns and also ran in a pair of scores. The Cyclones (4-0), ranked No. 1 in The Associated Press' Class 4A poll, outscored Jacksonville 20-0 and 35-0 and ate just 7:35 off the clock in doing so.

Madixx Morris caught five passes for 85 yards and one touchdown. Ke'Shon Singleton, Kyle Long and Andrew McDowell also hauled in TD passes from Lott.

"We were definitely feeling it. We (watched) our defensive guys (spend) a lot of time on defense and we knew we had to come back and score," Lott said. "We had to make every drive count and be fast and efficient."

The tortoise …

Jacksonville (2-2) took the opening kickoff and began its possession from its own 20-yard line. Three plays later, senior quarterback Elijah Owens found Deone Salther for a Crimsons’ first down. From there, Cam’Ron Mitchell, Emmanuel Moore, Owens and Jacob Pool moved the ball the rest of the way down. Jacksonville also benefitted from an SHG personal foul facemask penalty and a 4-yard offsides penalty, the latter of which gave Jacksonville a first-and-goal from the SHG 4.

More:Indiana State commit adds to the QB legacy for Jacksonville High School football

SHG entered the game averaging just over 60 points per game. Jacksonville coach Mark Grounds knew the Crimsons’ best chance to win the game was by shortening it.

“When you have an explosive offense — the way they are — the best way to defend them is to keep them on the sideline,” Grounds said. “It was our goal to control and take as much time off the clock and to take our shots when we had the opportunity to.”

Mitchell scampered in for the 4-yard touchdown with 1:02 left in the quarter. Only two of Jacksonville’s 18 plays in that drive went beyond 7 yards — the pass to Salther was 14 and Mitchell had a 9-yard run.

“They did a great job and that offense, they kept the ball away from us,” SHG coach Ken Leonard said. “We kind of shot ourselves in the foot a couple of times. We’ve got to make stops. That’s a tough offense and it’s hard to simulate in practice.”

The Crimsons had 17 runs in the drive. Mitchell had nine carries, Owens — who is going to Indiana State next year — had five carries, Moore had two and Pool had one.

When Jacksonville punched in the touchdown, it was the first time SHG trailed through four games. It’s also the last regular-season meeting between Leonard and Grounds. Leonard announced his retirement after the season. The longest current coaching rivalry in the CS8 is Grounds and Leonard, which dates back to Grounds’ start in 2001.

What we learned: Takeaways from Week 4 in Springfield-area high school football

… and the hare

When SHG got the ball for the first time at its own 35, SHG went to the air after two runs went for a combined three yards. Lott found Morris for 12 and 9 yards before the quarter horn sounded. The Cyclones opened the second quarter with a 13-yard pass from Lott to Long and a 28-yard TD to Singleton. The two plays took 16 seconds.

SHG then forced a backed-up Jacksonville team to punt, and the Cyclones got the ball back at the JHS 25. Lott found Jack Western for 24 yards then Lott ran in for a 1-yard score and a 13-7 lead.

Lott said the Cyclones’ offense has worked on getting even quicker as the season has progressed.

“We were fast at the beginning of the season, but I feel like we’re way faster and we’re all linked together,” Lott said.

More:'Roboleg' at QB, Air Force commit at WR and a coach's final ride: Football begins at SHG

Jacksonville got back to work with 8:58 left in the half and seemed poised to try to recreate the first possession. Seven plays killed about five minutes off the clock and an SHG pass interference penalty put the Crimsons at the SHG 41. But a fumble on the next play gave SHG the ball at Jacksonville’s 49. Three plays later, Lott finds Long for a 17-yard score and a 20-7 lead with 2:40 left in the second.

“I think the fumble that gave them the ball right before half and we were on their 40-yard line, that hurt big time,” Grounds said, “and once you give them a chance to get up by a couple of scores and you become one-sided defensively, they’re monsters out there.”

Jacksonville showed it has the capability for quick strikes of its own. Owens found junior receiver Rodney Reed behind the SHG defense for a 72-yard touchdown pass. Any momentum the Crimsons had, getting back within 20-14 with 1:28 left in the half, vanished when SHG responded a minute later with a 16-yard TD pass from Lott to McDowell.

“It is crazy because Ty has connections with everyone,” Morris said. “If he needs to get the ball to, dot-dot-dot, he’ll make the play. If this person is guarded, he knows the next guy will make a play. It just all comes down to our receiving corps being there for Ty.”

Contact Ryan Mahan: 788-1546, ryan.mahan@sj-r.com, Twitter.com/RyanMahanSJR.

This article originally appeared on State Journal-Register: IHSA football: Quick strikes allow SHG to overwhelm Jacksonville