By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
Savannah was the newest team in the field at the St. Joseph city jamboree at Spratt Stadium Friday.
Now, they're the most recent winner of the event.
The Savages, coming off of a 10-2 season last year, scored five offensive touchdowns and forced three turnovers in beating Lafayette, Central and Benton in the jamboree on Friday night.
Savannah beat Lafayette 18-7, Central 6-0 and Benton 15-0.
"We just want to check a few boxes when we come to jamboree," Savannah head coach Anthony Hays said. "We want to get some reps in for our guys we'll rotate in on Friday night and our JV kids. I think we checked all of our boxes."
"We want our kids, whether we're at practice, a jamboree or game, to play with great enthusiasm and energy and I feel like they really brought that today."
The Savages had little trouble on offense in the first quarter, as senior and all-state running back Cade Chappell got the scoring started with a one-yard touchdown run.
Sophomore Deagan Pasley followed with a one-yard rushing score of his own. Savannah also recovered a pair of Lafayette fumbles to beat the Irish 18-7.
The second quarter proved to be a tougher challenge for the Savages, as they took on Class 5 Central. The Indians held Savannah out of the end zone for awhile.
But with only a couple of plays left to run, junior quarterback Maddox Shoop threw a deep ball to sophomore Luke Rogers, who turned around to catch the pass in tight coverage, and back his way into the end zone to give Savannah a 6-0 win in the second quarter.
Each team ran 12 plays of offense per quarter.
Benton proved to be of little challenge for Savannah, as the Savages quickly scored a pair of touchdowns against the Cardinals.
Chappell ran one in from 18 yards out, while Shoop connected with Kegan Bechtold for an 11-yard touchdown to put the Savages up 12-0.
Every drive in Friday's jamboree started 35 yards away from the end zone. Benton's offense had trouble getting much past the 35.
In fact, on Benton's first offensive play against the Savannah defense, quarterback Jaxson Rich targeted Austin Zambrano-Saxton in the end zone, but senior Wyatt Jackson ripped the ball away for his own to come down with an athletic interception.
"That was a great play," Hays said. "Wyatt, I think, will be a good one. We have some good senior leadership and some young kids who played last year as sophomores. I was really impressed with coach (Caleb) Wiley's defense. The defensive staff has done a great job with those kids. They played with a lot of fire."
The Savages came away with a sweep against their St. Joseph opposition - their fans packing the bleachers on the north side.
"Our town loves football," Hays said. "We're appreciative for the support we have. It seemed like a natural fit with there only being three teams (in the jamboree). I'm very gracious to the St. Joseph schools for allowing us to be part of it. We're just 15 minutes north of here, so it seemed like a good fit. We'd love to be a part of it for as long as they allow us to."
"We bring something to the table as far as the atmosphere and packing the visitors' side (at Spratt Stadium). We could have that be our side. We'll pack it every single year. We're very grateful for our fan support."
Also in the first quarter
Central got off to a strong start in the first quarter, defeating Benton 18-3. Junior running back Gabe Fields had a 35-yard touchdown run. He also caught an 18-yard touchdown pass from senior QB Caleb Aguilar.
Benton's Bryson Brown snagged an INT late in the period, which were the only points on the night for the Cardinals.
Also in the second quarter
Lafayette's lone win Friday came against Benton in the second quarter by the score of 6-0. Senior quarterback Jackson Compton connected with fellow senior and receiver Drake Losson for a 33-yard touchdown throw in the second.
Compton and Losson also connected from 35 yards out in the first quarter against Savannah.
Also in the third quarter
Central's offense moved methodically against Lafayette. Fields and junior Clarron Jackson each had touchdown runs against the Irish in the third. The Indians also picked up a fumble after a sack, giving the Indians a 15-0 win.
Central finished the night at 2-1, Lafayette was 1-2 and Benton, last year's jamboree winner, went 0-3.
Week 1
Savannah will face Portageville at Ozark High School. Central is at Ruskin, Lafayette is at KC Center and Benton is home to Northeast KC next Friday to officially kick off the season.
Anthony Hays interview
You can follow Tommy on Twitter @TommyKFEQ and St. Joseph Post @StJosephPost.