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Jackets edged by Rosman, 25-22
The Yellow Jackets' Cinderella season came to an end last Friday night, when the Rosman Tigers left with a 25- 22 win in their back pockets. It had been a season of striving, of great effort, of ups and downs. It was a season that won't be forgotten easily, yet now passes into history. "This has been a very special team and a very special year for me," Head Football Coach Neil Setzer said Monday. "We came off a 3-and- 8 season and came back this year - and struggled some early - but came on in the heart of the season. It was a lot of fun to watch these guys fight back." The Yellow Jackets did a lot of fighting back on Friday night, struggling to keep the game close, but never quite overtaking a very strong Rosman team. "I think we tried hard, but didn't block or tackle as hard as they did," Setzer said. And while the Jackets jumped out to an early 8-nothing lead on an 8-yard TD run by Barrett Woody and a successful 2-point conversion, their lead evaporated after only a minute of playing time. From then on, Hayesville was chasing the Tigers.
Rosman answered the initial Hayesville touchdown with one of their own just seconds later. Their 2-point conversion attempt failed, so Hayesville still led 8-6. But the Tigers took the lead for good with just 1:35 left in the first half with a 39-yard touchdown run. Again, their 2- point conversion came up short, but Rosman had an 12-8 lead going into the locker room. The Tigers scored again early in the third quarter, bringing the tally to 18-8. Hayesville finally answered with 5:49 left in the third quarter, when Blake Mosteller took a Jonathan Shively pass 32 yards into the end zone. Barrett Woody made a successful run for a 2-point conversion bringing the Jackets to within two, 18-16.
The Yellow Jackets fought back yet again, and with just 2:23 left to go in the game, Matthew Mixon ran 1 yard for a touchdown. But Hayesville's 2-point conversion attempt failed, sealing Rosman's 25-22 victory ... and ending Hayesville's season. Setzer sees the secret to Rosman's success as a game plan that was carried out perfectly. "They did exactly what they needed to do: They controlled the ball by running the football, and they did not fumble." Coach Setzer said one of the turning points in the game came in the fourth quarter, when the Jackets were down by two. Faced with fourth down at mid-field, the Jackets punted, which put the Tigers starting a series near their own goal line. But they drove all the way down the field and scored that final TD.
The numbers On paper, as well as on the scoreboard, the two teams remained fairly well matched. Both Hayesville and Rosman managed 18 first downs in the game. While Rosman led in total net yards, 379-to-270, the Yellow Jackets outpassed the Tigers 152 yards to just 39. On the ground, however, it was all Rosman, with the Tigers racking up 340 yards running, versus 118 for Hayesville. Matthew Mixon was the standout rusher in the Rosman game, running 18 times for 80 yards and one touchdown. Barrett Woody added 24 yards and a TD on seven carries; and quarterback Jonathan Shively had 14 yards on 11 tries. Shively made just half of his passes on the night, connecting on 11 of 22 for 152 yards and one touchdown. He was intercepted twice.
Defensive statistics were not available on Monday. The seniors For 10 Yellow Jacket seniors, the Rosman game marked the end of a high school career. Coach Setzer didn't spare the complements about the young men who will move on to other endeavors: "Our seniors fought through a very adverse year last year, and really made this year a pleasure," said Setzer. "It was a very pleasant year to work with these kids." Some of the comments about the Yellow Jacket seniors: + Barrett Woody - "Barrett overcame an injury and gave us heart and soul; he was elected team captain every week by his teammates. He's just a tough football player."
+ Cory Cox - "Cory caught big passes over the middle when they took something away and made big (kick) returns. He's just got tremendous heart." + Allan Stegner - "Allan came in and kicked for us. If we were kicking, he did his job; if we weren't kicking, he was on the sidelines and waited until it was time to kick again. We're proud to have him for a year." + Sergio Scalaro - "A guy who played defense every play and the guy who made big catches in big games." + Matthew Mixon - "Matt had not played, it took him a while to get into it, when it got into it, he was a fine running back. There were several plays against Robbinsville and Murphy where he got hit and kept on churnin'. Those will always be highlights of this season from now on."
+ Nick Cain - "Nick played as a sophomore, took a year off and came back to play for us this year. He was a two-way starter, offense and defense. For most of the year, he was our leading tackler. He's been a good leader for us." + Justin Berrong - "Justin had never played high school football. He came out this year, and we had so much fun with him. He didn't get on the field all that much, but he made it a pleasurable year, he's such a fun person." + Randy Nichols - "I don't know that we've ever had a better lineman. Randy's the heart and soul of our line. This guy's 300 pounds. I remember in August, thinking, "Man, there's no way he can go both ways." He would play absolutely as hard as he can. And he played great defense; he made great plays."
The Yellow Jacket seniors - and the entire 2006 Hayesville High School football team - will be honored in a Jan. 22 dinner hosted by the Quarterback Club.
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