H.S. FOOTBALL: Jackson Christian falls behind early

NASHVILLE – Jackson Christian head football coach Todd Roland said he felt like he didn’t do a good job getting his team ready to play at Donelson Christian Academy Friday night, and that’s why the Eagles fell behind by 21 points six minutes into the first quarter.

Jackson Christian played better after that point, but the Eagles still lost 34-14 to fall to 0-2 on the season.

“We’re a young team with 16 out of 37 kids playing high school varsity football for the first time this year,” Roland said via phone during the ride back to Jackson Friday night. “Most of those are freshmen, but a few are older.

“But I think tonight we came out against a quality program in Nashville who’s won a few state championships and looked like a deer in the headlights. But once we fell behind, it’s like we took a step back and said, ‘OK. That’s all they get.’”

Jackson Christian actually outscored DCA 14-13 the rest of the way, but the three early touchdowns proved costly.

Senior running back Clay Lewis had a quality game for the Eagles, leading them in rushing with 120 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries. He also led them in receiving with 25 yards on four catches.

“Clay is just a tough football player,” Roland said. “He won’t burn many people with his speed, but when you tackle him and bring him down, you’ve done something because he’s such a tough player that won’t stop once he gets going.”

This week’s game was almost an opposite to the Week 1 loss at South Gibson, in which the Eagles stayed with the Hornets for a half before falling behind in the second half.

“I think if we can put four quarters together, we can compete with some good teams,” Roland said. “We played a good team from a bigger class last week and played them well for a half, then we played a quality small private school who’s been to the state championship game six times in the past 20 years and won it four times and has another good team this year and played them well for most of the game.

“But we’re young, and we’re gaining experience. So hopefully it will get better.”