re: Class of 2018 Recruiting MEGATHREAD: So Long Old Friend Edition

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It was hard to wipe the smile off the face of sophomore defensive lineman Jacorrian Wrenn.

Forget about the sack and Jackson-Olin's suffocating defense that shut down John Carroll, because all he wanted to talk about was the first touchdown of his high school career.

Wrenn scored on a 3-yard run with 5:01 to go, providing an exclamation point as Jackson-Olin (3-1, 1-1) pulled away for a 42-7 victory over John Carroll (2-2, 1-2) in Class 6A, Region 5 action tonight.

“I really don’t know how to describe it,” Wreen said. “I know I won’t forget it with it being my first high school touchdown. Sacks are great and all, but a touchdown. That’s just a great feeling. I didn’t know I was going to get the chance. We’ve practiced it, then Coach called my number. It was awesome.”

The Mustangs overcame the loss of quarterback Brandon Ward, who had to be taken off the field on a stretcher on the next-to-last play of the first half with the Mustangs leading 14-7.

“I think he’ll be fine,” Jackson-Olin coach Tim Vakakes said. “He was alert, talking and moving around. His head was hurting so we just needed to exercise every possible precaution.”

Bralen Johnson, the starter the past two seasons but moved to wide receiver and defensive back, took over at quarterback second half and led the Mustangs to 28 points.

Alvin Toney was a thorn in the Cavs’ sides all night. He caught a 29-yard touchdown pass from Ward to give J-O a 14-7 lead midway through the second quarter. He finished with three catches for 69 yards, two rushes for 34 yards and had a 64-yard punt return for a touchdown called back on a penalty as well as a 40-yard return to the John Carroll 3 called back as well.

Jackson-Olin ran the ball 46 times and attempted only seven passes, including one in the second half.

Star of the game: Johnson did a good job stepping in for Ward. He engineered four scoring drives in the second half, scoring on a 6-yard run.

Play of the Game: With the score tied at 7-all, the Mustangs had held the ball for almost six minutes, but faced a fourth-and-three at the John Carroll 29. Ward found Toney for the 29-yard touchdown and it was all Mustangs after that.

Key sequence: The J-O defense set the tone, and dominated in the third quarter by holding the Cavs without a first down and to minus-4 yards on three series while increasing its lead from 14-7 to 28-7.

Stat sheet: Big defensive tackle Coynis Miller added to his offensive totals with a 6-yard touchdown run in the third quarter and finished with five yards on three carries. … J-Garrious Hunter led the Mustangs with 90 yards on only seven carries, including a 47-yard touchdown in the first quarter and a 35-yard touchdown run called back on a penalty. … Deandre Carlton was next for the Mustangs with 55 yards on 16 carries, including a 28-yard touchdown run. … Ward finished 5-of-6 passing in the first half for 83 yards. … Johnson chipped in 52 yards on 10 carries, all in the second half. … John Carroll managed only 223 total yards, and 107 of those came on three plays.

By the numbers: 2, John Carroll opened the season 2-0 for the first time since 2011; 5, the Mustangs threw five interceptions in last week’s 28-6 loss to Homewood; 20, the Cavs snapped a 20-game losing streak (including 2 forfeits) by knocking off Hayden 27-12 in the opener; 10, Jackson-Olin was ranked No. 10 in the Week 2 poll, its first ranking in 22 years since a No. 10 ranking in the final poll of the 1997 season/

Coachspeak: “We played so ugly in the first half. We’re still really undisciplined. We’re making silly mistakes – penalties, turnovers. We can’t keep making those kinds of mistakes. I thought our defense was outstanding. We put them in some tough spots in the first half with short fields, then they really dominated in the second half,” – Vakakes

He said it …: “We made a lot of mistakes out there, but we were able to win the game. I thought I played okay, but we’re a team. I’m not going to say I was disappointed on the punt returns because everything we do is as a team. We just have to work on some things and get better.” – Toney

Next week: John Carroll travels to Moody, while while Jackson-Olin plays host to Calera.

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