Moody gets first Jacksonville win
JACKSONVILLE 44, MILLS 34
In a battle of turnovers, the Jacksonville Titans came out on top of the Mills Comets 44-34 on Friday night at Mills.
The victory was the first for Jacksonville (1-0) under new Coach Maurice Moody.
Both offenses scored on their first possessions. For Mills, it was Keilon Davis on a 36-yard rushing touchdown. For Jacksonville, quarterback Deorious Cobbs ran across the goal line for an 18-yard score.
The Titans’ defense came up with its first turnover of the game, and Sherman Flowers Jr. caught a slant from Cobbs that took the Titans to the Mills’ 1. Cobbs followed with a quarterback sneak to give the Titans their first lead at 12-7.
The teams combined for nine first-half turnovers, with three of them being returned for touchdowns.
Davis recovered a fumble for Mills in Jacksonville’s end zone, but the Comets wouldn’t hold the lead for long.
Amiri Bolden made a play on special teams for Jacksonville by going 90-plus yards for a kickoff return touchdown. Jacksonville converted the two-point conversion, and after one quarter led 20-13.
In the second quarter, Mills (0-2) took a 21-20 lead when senior defensive back Amaujay Ricks recorded a pick-six for the Comets’ second defensive touchdown.
Soon after, Bolden took a 55-yard interception return for a touchdown for the Titans. Jacksonville won the turnover battle 5-4 at halftime and led 28-21.
With the assistance of a couple of offsides penalties committed by Mills, the Titans marched the ball down on the opening drive of the second half. Jacksonville capped off the drive that took 5:55 off the clock with a 2-yard rushing touchdown.
Special teams haunted Mills again when the Titans recovered the ensuing onside kick to keep the Comets offense on the sideline.
Mills did force a fifth turnover, but was unable to move the ball on offense.
Heading into the final quarter, Jacksonville had a 36-21 advantage.
The Titans extended their lead in the final quarter when Cobbs socred on a 1-yard QB sneak.
Mills scored a couple of late touchdowns, but six turnovers would prove to be too many to overcome.
Cobbs led the Titans with three touchdowns, and Bolden recorded two touchdowns.
Moody wasn’t pleased with the mistakes his team made, but he’s satisfied with the result.
“We’ll definitely take a win,” Moody said. “First ball game in my career at Jacksonville. I think it’s big for the program. The kids needed to see they could have some success. We tried to give it away, and with turning the football over it’s hard to win like that.”