Briarcrest's Jerrod Gentry catches two TDS in win over SBA
Briarcrest's Jerrod Gentry called for the ball on fourth-and-2 from the 5 and got his wish, an accurate pass from Michael Dallas that he hauled in for a 95yard touchdown Friday.
"I ran up to him, made a little inside move, turned on the burners, and the rest was history," Gentry said.
The 6-foot, 185 pound senior finished with 153 yards receiving and two touchdowns in Briarcrest's 37-0 victory over St. Benedict. His other touchdown was a 28-yard catch on the opening drive for the Saints (3-2) against St. Benedict (2-2).
"Jerrod Gentry has been electric all year," Briarcrest coach Brian Stewart said. "He's a guy who played corner last year, comes over and becomes a playmaker for us on offense. He has great hands, great speed, great route running and does his job."
Gentry has 524 receiving yards and six touchdowns on the season. He has an offer from Tennessee State and said that he's been communicating with more schools, but that they wanted to see how he bounced back from offseason shoulder surgery.
"I've been having shoulder problems since mid-sophomore year," Gentry said. "But this past season, in the sixth game of the season they threw up a jump ball and I went up for it and when I came down my shoulder popped out and it stayed out. So I had to have someone grab it and pop it back into place. I ended up finishing the season, I just put a brace on it. But I had a little tear in the back of my labrum so that was about a five- or six-month recovery process."
He said recovering from the injury so he could have a strong season was his motivation during offseason workouts. It took awhile for him to get used to hitting in games again.
"The hardest thing for me mentally has been playing defensive back and having to come up and hit because it had popped out so many times on me," Gentry said. "Those first couple games I was a little hesitant to come up and make full speed contact, but I'm starting to get back at it."
He said that his shoulder feels great and that he can play without a brace now. Dallas, who threw for three touchdowns and ran in two more, said that Gentry has been the Saints' "X-factor" this season.
"He's one of the best athletes we have on the team, and I have complete confidence in him and letting him go make plays. It helps me out a lot for sure,” Dallas said. “He does everything between blocking for other guys on the team and getting open. We have that connection where I know what he's doing and he knows what I like to do and I love it."