Mitz era at Jacobs begins with win over Joliet West

The Jacobs offense ate so much clock Saturday afternoon the Golden Eagles could have skipped dinner.

Sustained, methodical Jacobs drives kept the ball away from the Joliet West offense and wore down the Tigers' defense one carry at a time in a 34-13 season-opening victory on a warm afternoon in Joliet.

The Golden Eagles dominated time of possession, particularly in the first half when the offense held the ball for 18:27 of 24 minutes and ran 37 plays compared to Joliet West's 15.

"You could kind of say that's my trademark," said former Stevenson coach Bill Mitz, who won his first game at Jacobs. "It's the new trademark here now ... It's great because it really deflates the other team a little bit when you can drive down the field like that."

Junior fullback Kyle Wright, tailback Caz Zyks and the offensive line were workhorses all game long for Jacobs. Wright carried 24 times for 128 yards, including a 50-yard touchdown run in the third quarter. Zyks rushed for 63 yards and a touchdown in 20 attempts.

Wright credited offensive linemen John McMahon, Maciej Kozlowski, Paul Ehrlich, Adam Kulon and Ryan Perez for opening holes wide enough for Jacobs to average 3.6 yards per carry (58-208). "Our line blocked great for me and I just did what I had to do for the team, he said."

Junior quarterback Jason Judson ran for a touchdown and completed 7-of-10 passes for 101 yards, including a 31-yard touchdown to junior tight end Henry Gigeous, who finished with 4 receptions for 69 yards.

"We were getting nice passes on the rollouts, bootlegs were working good and the line was blocking great, clearing some big holes," Judson said. "It was all working well together."

Jacobs received the opening kickoff and began driving steadily from its own 28-yard line, marching 72 yards in 18 plays. Wright carried the ball 8 times on the drive, which Zyks capped with a 2-yard touchdown run on his seventh tote.

The Jacobs defense thwarted Joliet West's first possession when sophomore Jake Gierlak intercepted Joliet West quarterback Malcolm Allen's pass at the goal line for a touchback. The Eagles ensuing possession ended in a punt, but not before the offense chewed another 4:34 off the clock.

After the Jacobs defense held three-and-out the offense got back to work, using 10 plays to drive 47 yards. Wright was hit at the 1-yard line and fumbled the ball into the end zone, but he recovered the ball among a sea Joliet West defenders for a touchdown. The point-after kick failed, leaving Jacobs with a 13-0 lead at the half.

The Tigers got back in the ballgame when senior John Smith returned the second-half kickoff 91 yards for touchdown, slicing Jacobs' lead to 13-7 with plenty of time left.

However, the Golden Eagles answered right back. They drove 37 yards to midfield in seven plays before Wright burst up the middle for a 50-yard touchdown that extended the lead to 19-7 after a second missed extra point.

"It was a 41-trap and I didn't even get touched," Wright said of the touchdown. "My line blocked great and I just ran as hard as I could and booked it. There was a little adversity right there when we came out for the second half, but we fought through it."

The Tigers scored on their next possession when a 28-yard pass, nearly intercepted by Gierlak, landed in the hands of Danny Dorsey for a touchdown, cutting the deficit to 19-13 with 8:16 left in the third quarter.

Jacobs was stopped on its next possession, but sophomore punter Evan Bishop pinned the Tigers deep with a 42-yard punt angled out of bounds at the Joliet West 7-yard line. One play later, Allen was intercepted by Jacobs sophomore linebacker Adam Kulon (6-foot-4, 200 pounds).

"I was just reading the quarterback's eyes, dropped back and it just happened to fall right into my hands," Kulon said.

The Eagles cashed in six players later, helped by a Joliet West offsides penalty on 4th-and-2 at the 9-yard line. Judson kept the ball for an off-tackle run to the left from 4 yards out. Judson connected with Wright for a 2-point conversion pass to put Jacobs ahead 27-13 with 55 seconds left in the third quarter.

"We didn't know quite how (the players) were gong to act, but I thought we bounced back a couple of times," Mitz said. "We faced that adversity and came back and scored right away."

After the defense forced Joliet West to turn the ball over on downs at Jacobs 43-yard line, the offense put the game away with a 9-play, 57-yard drive, capped by Judson's 31-yard scoring throw to Gigeous.

The Jacobs defense held Joliet West to 142 total yards compared to the Golden Eagles' 309. Jacobs amassed 24 first downs to Joliet West's five.

"They had some pretty fast guys, but when you play as a team nobody can stop you."