Thanks mainly to a career-best performance from Kyle Matousek, the Jordan-Elbridge football team showed that it could absorb a loss – and roar back to form.
Matousek amassed 261 yards on 24 carries, scoring four touchdowns, and helped the Eagles romp past Bishop Ludden 56-14, keeping the Gaelic Knights winless in 2014 and improving its own record to 3-1.
This game always carries extra meaning for J-E head coach Tim Hawkins, since he served as an assistant coach to Mike Rogers at Ludden before taking over at the Eagles’ helm one year ago.
Here, it was obvious that Hawkins’ current team had more experience, talent and depth on hand than his former team, and that Matousek could not be contained. Plus it was clear that J-E’s 12-0 defeat to Syracuse Institute of Technology Central on Sept. 19 carried little lingering effects.
Twice in the first quarter, Matousek capped off J-E scoring drives, finding the end zone on twin TD runs of 12 yards, and Zach Pangaro’s pair of extra points created a quick 14-0 margin.
But it didn’t stop there. Throughout the second quarter, as its defense continued to make big stops, the Eagles moved the ball at will against Ludden’s defense. Justin Quinn capped off one drive with a three-yard scoring run, and quarterback Austin Barrigar took it himself from 11 yards out.
So J-E went to the break with a 28-0 halftime lead, and still wasn’t content. Pangaro showed off his leg with a 37-yard field goal in the third quarter, with Matousek getting his third TD on a four-yard run and George Richardson joining the run, scoring on a one-yard plunge.
To cap off his big night, Matousek went 14 yards to the end zone in the fourth quarter, right before Quinn’s second TD on a seven-yard run. Ludden couldn’t concentrate its defense on Matousek, since Barrigar was completing seven of 10 passes for 118 yards, with Humberstone making four receptions for 78 yards.
J-E is on the road once more next Friday to face Tully (0-4), who lost 44-0 to ITC on Friday. Ludden is also on the road to face Port Byron/Union Springs.
