Dogs open up a six pack

By KEVIN HARRIS
Kevin.Harris@newsandtribune.com

JEFFERSONVILLE September 30, 2006 12:05 am

— JEFFERSONVILLE — The New Albany football team has had its share of struggles this season.
Still, the Bulldogs know how to do one thing — beat Jeffersonville.
Friday night at Blair Field, New Albany extended its win streak over its heated rival to six games with a 14-13 victory. The Dogs now lead the all-time series, which started in 1904, to 45-30-5.
“It’s always sweet when you beat Jeff,” said New Albany head coach Kevin Roth, who improved to 7-1 against the Red Devils. “I’m super proud of them. I’ve been blessed with a lot of athletes since I’ve been here. Our defense was outstanding.”
The Bulldogs used their experienced offensive line to wear out the Red Devils. New Albany (3-4, 3-2 Hoosier Hills Conference) rushed for 176 yards on 45 carries against a Jeff defense that had given up only 80.6 yards per game this year.
Senior Miessan McDaniel led the Bulldog rushers with 77 yards on 14 carries. Junior James Madere added 51 yards on 13 rushes.
“Miessan ran his tail off,” Jeff head coach Steve Cooley said. “The kid played with a lot of heart. They did what they had to do.”
Roth lauded the play of his offensive line. In addition, he felt a constant rain that starting falling in the first half aided his team’s smashmouth offense.
The New Albany boss said Friday’s contest was similar to Providence’s 2-0 win over Jeff last weekend, where it took two days to play in rainy, muddy conditions.
“When I saw the rain come down, I thought Providence,” Roth said. “Our offensive line pushed ahead.”
It was almost a scoreless first half until the 1:16 mark of the second quarter. On first-and-10 at the New Albany 48-yard line, quarterback Ryan McAfee connected with junior Joe Lewis on a 52-yard touchdown pass to put the Bulldogs up 7-0.
Jeff (4-3, 4-1) struggled mightily on offense in the first half. The Red Devils mustered only 24 total yards, 23 coming on a reception by Levi James. They ran the ball for only one yard on 14 carries.
“We had one nice drive, but we made a couple of mistakes and made a couple of decisions you can’t make,” Cooley said. “We had some shots down the field and overthrew receivers.”
The Bulldogs’ powerful rushing attack put them up 14-0 with 20 seconds left in the third quarter. New Albany needed eight plays, all on the ground, to drive 56 yards as Madere scored a touchdown from 6 yards out.
Jeff made a rally in the fourth quarter thanks to sophomore Edward Wright. The Red Devil quarterback directed an eight-play, 64-yard scoring march, which he capped off with a 14-yard TD scamper to make the score 14-7 with 8:51 remaining. Wright had 51 rushing yards on the series.
"He went out and competed,” Cooley said about Wright, who had 116 of his game-high 117 rushing yards in the second half. “We had to win the game up front. We knew we had to move the ball up front, which could set up our play-action passing.”
After a New Albany three-and-out, the Red Devils went on a long six-play, 92-yard scoring drive. Jeff’s other quarterback, Terrence Johnson, made two 23-yard receptions to Adam Parella and then sneaked into the end zone from 1 yard out to cut New Albany’s lead to 14-13 at the 5:37 mark.
Parella, though, missed the extra-point kick wide right, keeping the Dogs up one. However, Cooley said Johnson, who was the holder, and two linemen told him the ball went inside the goal post.
“It looked good from the sideline,” Cooley said.
The Red Devils got one more shot to win. With a little more than two minutes left, McAfee fumbled the ball at the Jeff 39.
But the Red Devils’ offense did nothing. They got the ball to the New Albany 45 and the game ended when Wright threw an incomplete pass on fourth down, which was intended for Michael Miller.
“I thought the last series was super,” Roth said. “The kids really knuckled down.”
The Devils now have their work cut out for them next Friday when they will travel to Class 4A No. 1 Columbus East. Jeff must win if it wants to keep its HHC title hopes alive. The Devils trail the first-place Olympians by one game in the league standings.
“They all hurt,” Cooley said. “After we lost to Providence, I didn’t sleep well this week and with the loss tonight I probably won’t sleep well this coming week.”
New Albany will host Seymour next Friday.

NEW ALBANY 0 7 7  0—14
JEFFERSONVILLE 0 0 0 13—13
2nd quarter
N — Lewis 52 pass from McAfee (Lawrence kick), 1:16.
3rd quarter
N — Madere 6 run (Lawrence kick), :20.
4th quarter
J — Wright 14 run (Parella kick), 8:51.
J — T. Johnson 1 run (kick failed), 5:37.

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