Wayne Academys season ends with 14-12 loss

By By Robby Atkinson/staff writer
November 8, 2003
The 2003 football season for the Wayne Academy Jaguars came to a shocking end on Friday night at T.F. Giles Field as the Briarfield Academy Rebels marched
into "The Jungle" and took a 14-12 win over the Jaguars and advanced to the third round of the MPSA Class A Playoffs.
Wayne Academy head coach Johnny Walker was very pleased with the effort during the whole season of his young group of Jaguars.
The early story of the game was the great defense by Wayne Academy in holding Briarfield to only two first downs in the entire first half.
The game started with a pair of quick possessions by both teams, but the Jaguars would strike first to take the lead. Patton Stanley scored on a 5-yard run to put Wayne Academy on top 6-0 after a failed extra point with 4:07 left in the first quarter.
The next Briarfield possession tested the Jaguar defense to the fullest. The Rebels moved into punt formation after a quick three-and-out, but Briarfield tried to catch the Jaguars napping. The Rebels attempted a fake punt and Brett Coxwell came up with a great solo tackle off the right end to
give the ball back to Wayne Academy.
After an exchange of possessions, the Rebels came up with a turnover of their own. Wayne Academy sustained a great drive that ended up inside the Rebel 15-yard line, but Montellus Craft collected an interception in the endzone to end the promising drive. Craft also notched a second
interception at the end of the first half to send the game into halftime with Wayne Academy holding a slim 6-0 lead.
The Jaguars opened the second half with a long scoring drive. Wayne Academy went on a nine-play, 80-yard drive to lead to its second touchdown. Garet James found Clark Joiner for a 6-yard pass for the touchdown to move the score to 12-0 after a failed two-point conversion attempt with 7:15 left in the third.
Briarfield finally found the endzone to open the fourth quarter off a 1-yard plunge by Drew Manning and J.D. Kiefer added the PAT to cut the lead to 12-7 with 11:18 left in the fourth quarter. The Rebels put the final exclamation point on the win with the game-winning touchdown with 39 seconds
left in the game.
Manning found an opening around the left end for a 10-yard touchdown run and push Briarfield ahead by a score of 14-12. Wayne Academy had one final attempt on offense, but Kyle Love picked off a pass by James to give the Rebels a huge road win.
Wayne Academy finished with 221 yards of total offense and Coxwell was once again the work horse for the Jaguars. Coxwell had 10 carries for 140 yards, while James went 7-for-15 with 69 yards passing. Joiner hauled in six catches for 62 yards.
Jared Crane and Joiner led the defense with 11 tackles apiece. Wayne Academy ends the season with a 6-5 record and Briarfield moves on to play Heidelberg Academy next week. Heidelberg beat Strider Academy 28-8.