Early blocked punt triggers Jessieville runaway vs. Gurdon

JESSIEVILLE — After back-to-back losses, Jessieville looked resurgent Friday night at Phillips Field.

Senior Mayson Bradshaw returned a blocked punt 47 yards and took a pass 49 yards for touchdowns in the Lions’ 30-8 win over Gurdon.

Jessieville, 4-3 overall, takes a 2-2 conference record into Friday’s Class 3A-5 home game against Horatio. Then come Centerpoint and defending Class 3A champion Prescott.

“Anytime in this conference, when you have a chance to win, you got to get it done,” second-year Jessieville coach T.J. Burk said. “You can’t afford to put yourself behind the eight ball in the standings.

“We had a chance to win and we got it done. I’m proud of our guys.”

Jessieville took command early on a 14-play scoring drive, senior Oliver Nasilai getting the last three yards with 5:03 off the clock. The Lions added a safety 80 seconds later and led 16-0 after Bradshaw’s return of a blocked punt. At the time, Gurdon faced fourth and five near midfield.

“Anytime you can get a defensive score, you feel about your

chances of winning,” Burk said. “And the rest of the game, we held our own, giving up only eight points.”

Coming off a 31-14 win over Centerpoint, Gurdon pulled within 16-8 on a 25-yard pass from BJ Brewer to fellow senior Miguel Leon with 6:48 left in the half. The Go-Devils fell to

3-4 overall, 1-3 in the conference. “That’s a really good football team,” Burk said. “Offensively, they’ve got some skilled guys. I’m happy with our defensive effort; they played

100 percent all night. We are going to hang our win on our defense.”

Nasilai scored again on a 10-yard run with

13 seconds left, finishing with seven carries for

29 yards. The Brigham Young University commit has been limited the last couple of games because of an injury.

Bradshaw’s catch secured the game for the Lions in the fourth quarter when senior Adam Saveall found him near the left side of the field. It was 30-8 with 8:34 on the clock.

“That play we’ve been run, run, and we saw something from the press box, so we made an adjustment right there,” Burk said. “We hit them over the top, great throw and great catch.

“It was good execution on both ends.” Saveall finished five of 13 for 74 yards and a touchdown. Senior Colton Ault had seven carries for 45 yards and senior Dylan Wright 17 carries for 44 yards.

For Gurdon, KJ Tidwell had 19 carries for 54 yards and Brewer 11 carries for 57 yards. Brewer went seven of 20 passing for 104 yards.

Last week against Haskell Harmony Grove, in a 27-20 road loss, Jessieville was penalized 13 times for more than 100 yards. The Lions’ eight penalties Friday included two for pass interference and a face-mask violation.

“Some of them were just effort penalties,” Burk said. “I don’t fault our guys for anything tonight.

“We’d like to see a few less penalties, but it’s not mental penalties; it’s effort.”