Patriots Fall to Indians in Homecoming Shutout

After a rough three weeks on the road, the Jefferson County Patriots returned to Leroy Shannon Field Friday night for the 2019 Homecoming Game.

Now sporting a 3-3 record, the Patriots welcomed the Dobyns-Bennett High School Indians to Dumplin Valley, hoping to regain some momentum lost over the last three weeks. Unfortunately this would not be the night.

Winning the coin toss, the Patriots elected to defer to the second half, giving the Indians the ball first. Dobyns-Bennett took full advantage to set the course for the game, scoring on their first drive. The successful extra point put the Indians in the lead 7-0

The Jefferson County offense struggled to move the ball after the punt, and the Indians gained the ball back. Despite a tough performance by the Patriot defense, Jefferson County offense just could not surpass the wall the Indian defense also built. Regaining possession of the ball late in the first quarter, the Indians found themselves in the endzone for the second time with a pass and around 70 yard run. The first quarter ended with Dobyns-Bennett ahead of Jefferson County 14-0.

The second quarter turned out to be uneventful, as both defenses beefed up to prevent much motion of the ball. Even though Jefferson County’s Taylor Atkins connected the ball with his receivers several times, the Patriots could not make it in to the redzone, let alone the endzone. The Indians, with Weaver at the helm, had the same struggle and the score going in to the halftime break was D-B 14, JCHS 0.

The third quarter was beginning to take the same form that the second quarter had, with both defenses limiting the movement of the ball. With just over three minutes left in the quarter, though, the Indians found a hole in the Patriot wall, taking full advantage of it. On the next play of the drive, Dobyns-Bennett scored a touchdown, the good extra point widened the gap 21-0. The Patriots, still struggling to move the ball, lost possession due to downs. The Indians would round out the third quarter with one more touchdown to add to their tally, making the lead 28-0.

With both teams fighting a hard battle, the fourth quarter was much like letting the air out of a balloon. The offenses struggled to move the ball, with both making preventable mistakes that ended with penalties. The Patriots struggled to find the hole in the Indian defense, and ended the game scoreless. As to put one final nail in the coffin, the Indians introduced themselves to the endzone one last time to make the final score Dobyns-Bennett 35, Jefferson County 0.

Next for the Patriots comes another on the road gig, as they travel to Bearden High School in Knoxville to face off against the Bulldogs. The last time the two teams met, Bearden defeated Jefferson County 28-0. Bearden, now 1-5, most recently defeated upcoming Jefferson County opponent Harden Valley 34-28. Game is set to kick off at 7:30.