Knoxville Catholic football turns to backup QB Jack Jancek, beats Campbell County
With quarterback Jack Sompayrac (shoulder) sidelined, Catholic coach Steve Matthews decided to tone down the game plan Friday night against Campbell County in the first round of the Class 5A playoffs.
But after a slow start, Matthews and the Irish, who have a penchant for the big play, just couldn’t resist.
After two early drives stalled at the Cougars’ 1 and 5, Matthews decided to open up the playbook and the Irish responded with 35 second-quarter points on their way to a 59-21 win at Catholic.
Catholic (8-3) advances to host Fulton (9-2) Friday night in Round 2 of the playoffs.
“The game plan was to try and run it and protect our backup quarterback (Jack Jancek) a little,” explained Matthews.
Once unleashed, Jancek, a sophomore, tossed touchdown passes of 47 yards to Dashon Bussell, 63 yards to Cam Blakely and 60 yards to D.J. Mitchell in the second-quarter explosion.
“We said, ‘Let’s chuck a few up and see what happens,’” said Matthews.
Catholic also got a 58-yard TD run and an 80-yard kickoff return for a score by the speedy Bussell in the devastating second quarter to go up 42-14 at the half.
“I thought Dashon Bussell was outstanding,” said Matthews. “He jump started us in the first half.”
Jancek threw for 218 yards despite going just 5-for-9 through the air. He also ran seven times for 87 yards.
Not bad for his first start, according to Matthews.
“Jack Jancek did a nice job. He has got a great arm.”
The Irish shrugged off the slow start and finished with 391 total yards (213 rushing, 178 passing) in the first half.
“I thought we mixed it up well,” said Matthews.
Campbell County coach Justin Price said Catholic’s quick-strike ability is uncanny.
“Any mistake you make, they make you pay,” said Price, whose Cougars finish 7-4.
“Our kids played their hearts out, but we had six mistakes that they turned into touchdowns in the first half.”
Quarterback Zach Rutherford finished up his Campbell County career by completing 43 of 54 passes for 308 yards and three touchdowns.
He connected with Shawn Marcum (13 receptions, 107 yards) on scoring passes of 4 and 26 yards. He also hit Christian England on a 13-yard scoring strike.
Catholic’s defense got into the scoring act in the second half as Blakely and Joshua Brown returned interceptions for touchdowns.
Matthews and the Irish now turn their attention to Fulton, a longtime nemesis in the playoffs for Catholic.
“Next week will be tough,” he said. “It always seems to come down to us and them.”
Mike Blackerby is a freelance contributor