BY CLIFF SMELLEY
Telegraph Staff Writer
Bradford High School’s defense surrendered no points, while the offense was powered by the rushing of Manny Covey, Willie Pollard and Dae’Jon Shanks in wins over Impact Christian Academy and Providence School in a preseason kickoff classic on Aug. 19 at Providence.
The Tornadoes, utilizing a mix of junior varsity and varsity players, played each team for two quarters. Bradford defeated Impact 21-0 and Providence 8-0.
Bradford Head Coach Jamie Rodgers said it was a chance to “hit somebody else and get some film so we can evaluate some guys and get ready to play on Thursday and Friday next week.” The JV team hosts Baker County on Thursday, Aug. 25, at 6 p.m., while the varsity team travels to Macclenny to play Baker on Friday, Aug. 26, at 7 p.m.
Offensively, the Tornadoes rushed for more than 300 yards, with quarterback Shanks leading the way with 105 yards on 10 carries. Pollard and Covey, who each had seven carries, gained 91 and 79 yards, respectively. Each of the three players scored one touchdown.
“We were able to run the ball in the first half (against Impact) and kind of do what we wanted to,” Rodgers said. “The second half (against Providence), we wanted to work on a few things. We just didn’t hold up pass protection-wise. That’s a concern. We’re going to get in there and work on that.”
The defense made 13 tackles behind the line of scrimmage and held each opponent to approximately 0 yards.
“They played hard, really hard,” Rodgers said. “When you watch film, it’s never as good or never as bad as you thought. We’ll get back there and fix some stuff, but I thought we played with a lot of effort.”
As strong as the defense was, it was that unit that committed 10 of Bradford’s 12 penalties. Half of those were of the 15-yard variety as the Tornadoes racked up almost 130 yards in penalties.
“What I’ll take from this (game) is way too many penalties,” Rodgers said. “We’re going to clean that up on Monday and get ready for our season opener. That’s why you’ve got to play a classic, right?”
The classic consisted of each team’s possession beginning at its own 40-yard line, regardless of what happened on the previous possession. The rules also varied from one opponent to the next. Extra-point kicks were allowed in Bradford’s game against Impact, for example, which allowed Hayden Hughes to convert on all three of his PAT attempts, but against Providence, the kicks weren’t allowed, forcing the Tornadoes to go for two after that game’s only touchdown.
“It was supposed to be full special teams, full football the whole time, and it wasn’t,” Rodgers said, adding, “That’s OK. It gave us a chance to work on some things.”
In Bradford’s first two quarters of play, Impact muffed the opening kickoff, with Jametrius “Jip” Pringle falling on the loose ball. Because of the rules, though, the Tornadoes’ offense didn’t get the ball deep in Impact territory, but instead began their drive at their own 40.
Shanks, who was a combined 2 of 4 for 22 yards against both teams, completed consecutive passes on what would be a five-play scoring drive. A 10-yard reception by Pollard set the Tornadoes up at the Impact 26, while Pringle caught a pass for a 12-yard gain to the 14. Covey scored on a run from there for a 7-0 lead after Hughes’ PAT.
Impact benefitted from a personal-foul facemask penalty on its first series, but the Lions couldn’t do anything against the Bradford defense. Bryson Bowen made two tackles for losses, while Dejon McBride had a 9-yard sack.
The Tornadoes’ Gavin Cook fielded the first punt of the game, taking it from his own 29-yard line and almost scoring before being brought down inside the Impact 5-yard line. Again, because of the game format, the Tornadoes didn’t start their drive from there, with the ball being marched back to their 40-yard line.
It didn’t matter, as Bradford needed only three plays to find the end zone. Shanks ripped off a 44-yard run on the first play. After a 9-yard run by Pollard, Shanks scored on a run from the 7. Hughes added the PAT for a 14-0 first-quarter lead.
With a 24-yard pass play and a 15-yard penalty, Impact was able to march to the Bradford 38 before the first quarter ended. The Lions didn’t get a chance to extend the drive as the game format had Bradford’s offense take to the field at its own 40 to start the second quarter.
Five plays later, Bradford increased its lead to 21-0. A 29-yard run by Pollard resulted in first-and-goal at the 9, while quarterback Jeremiah McKenzie completed the drive with a 2-yard touchdown run.
Bradford rushed for 166 yards on 11 carries against Impact. Shanks gained 51 yards, while Covey and Pollard gained 46 and 45, respectively.
Bowen made three tackles for loss and would finish the night with six total.
Impact had only two run plays that gained positive yardage.
In the two quarters of play against the host Stallions, Bradford was on defense first. Bowen set the tone on the first play as he was the lead tackler on play that lost 5 yards.
After Providence went three-and-out, the Tornadoes put together a three-play scoring drive that consisted of a 39-yard run by Shanks to the 10-yard line. Pollard scored from there. Shanks carried the ball into the end zone on the two-point conversion for what would prove to be the final score of 8-0.
The Tornadoes threatened to score on their second possession, with a 17-yard run by Pollard helping the offense move to the Providence 20, but Bradford would turn the ball over on a fumble inside the 15-yard line.
Bradford’s next two possessions — including a three-and-out that consisted of three sacks — resulted in a total of 12 yards on 10 plays.
Providence, like Impact, simply had no answers for the Bradford defense, which got an 11-yard sack from McBride and an interception by Pringle.
The Tornadoes rushed for more than 130 yards against Providence, with Shanks and Pollard gaining 54 and 46 yards, respectively. Covey had 33 yards.
For their season opener, the varsity Tornadoes take on a Baker County team that went 11-3 in reaching the Class 5A state semifinals last season. The Wildcats are coming off a kickoff classic in which they lost 17-7 to Union County in a varsity half of play. The final score, including a JV half, was in favor of Union, 34-20.
