MOSLEY DOMINATES IN SPRING JAMBOREE

It’s never wise to attempt to glean too much information from spring jamboree results, though for Mosley, Friday night’s performance in the Bay County Football Jamboree was certainly enough to give the Dolphins a good feeling heading into summer workouts. Mosley won both of its halves of the three-team jamboree at Gavlak Stadium, defeating Arnold 18-7 in one half and Bay 16-0 in the other. The Marlins blanked the Tornadoes 22-0 in the first half of the night. The Dolphins got an impressive rushing performance from junior running back Darien Ganzy, who carried 25 times for 159 yards and a touchdown combined on the night, and a dominant defensive effort that didn’t allow a single offensive score to either opponent. “We didn’t play perfect, but I thought our kids played hard and very physical,” Dolphins coach Jeremy Brown said. “That was our goal going into the spring. We were trying to find 11 guys on both sides of the ball who want to go on the field and be physical and I think we did that.” Mosley opened up in the second half of play against Arnold and took the early 6-0 lead on a 17-yard touchdown pass from Mike Maddox to Josh Lingenfelter with 8:12 left in the second quarter. A costly miscue got Arnold back in the game, with Ganzy having the ball poked out in the backfield and fall right into the arms of Arnold’s Donnie Williams, who raced 33 yards to the end zone. Javier Elias’ extra point gave the Marlins the 7-6 lead with 6:25 on the clock. Arnold returned the favor with a backbreaking turnover of its own when a pass by Cade Ledman sailed high and was picked off by Darien Vaughn, who took it back 67 yards for a score to put Mosley back up 12-7 with 3:56 remaining. After stopping the Marlins on downs on their ensuing possession, the Dolphins put the game away with a 22-yard touchdown run by Ganzy with 1:07 to play. The Mosley defense added another against Bay with a safety making it 2-0 with 4:53 left in the first quarter. The Dolphins made it 9-0 on their next series thanks to an 11-yard touchdown run by Maddox, and extended to 16-0 when Don McKay capped off a 10-play, 71-yard drive with a 7-yard touchdown run with 5:35 to play. Bay was limited to 29 yards of total offense in the half against Mosley, with Arnold managing just 55 yards in its half against a Dolphins’ defense that drew praise from Brown postgame. “I thought defensively we looked really sharp,” he said. “We had guys flying around to the football. On offense, we were able to run the ball. We’ve got to clean up penalties and clean up the turnovers. If you take the turnovers away, it’s a little bit better.” The night was a mixed bag for the host Marlins, who had their way with the Tornadoes in the opening half before slowing down against Mosley. It didn’t take long for Arnold to seize control against Bay, driving 75 yards on nine plays and scoring on a 3-yard touchdown run by Ty Boles on its opening series, and then going up 13-0 on a 70-yard punt return touchdown by Daveno Ellington with 5:26 left in the first quarter. After the defense registered a safety to make it 15-0 late in the first, Arnold tacked on another score with a 2-yard touchdown pass from Ledman to Clay Parker to finish off a nine-play, 62-yard drive. Ledman completed 6 of 12 passes for 54 yards and a touchdown in the half and added 37 yards on the ground, while Boles rushed 13 times for 84 yards and a score. “I thought we had a lot of good things, but I thought with turnovers and miscues, we kind of self destructed (against Mosley),” Arnold coach Josh Wright said. “We’ve got to get better and experience will help with that. We had some rust in some positions, but I thought collectively we played hard both halves.” There wasn’t a lot to be positive about for the Tornadoes, who lost the bulk of their production on both sides of the ball last year to graduation, and it showed on Friday. Bay struggled mightily in the trenches on both sides of the ball, though rising senior defensive end Anthony Hayes was a bright spot with three sacks and a fumble recovery. Freshman quarterback Blayne Watkins finished 14 of 21 combined for the night for 57 yards and an interception in his first action as the Tornadoes’ starter, though his offensive line struggled to protect him or open much space for the Bay running game. It was a disappointing performance overall for the Tornadoes, though coach Mike Watkins said his players have to quickly put it behind them. “We’ll start next year in the fall and be 0-0,” he said. “Obviously we didn’t do very well tonight in any form or fashion. We’ll just keep showing up and working. It’s not like we just lost the state championship. We lost. We played like crap. That kind of stuff happens. Hopefully we react the right way, which is to look forwards and not backwards and just keep working and getting better.”

MOSLEY DOMINATES IN SPRING JAMBOREE

Photo Credit: Mosley High School Athletics

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