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BELCOURT (N.D.) — Jamestown may have come out on top of the Jays' tilt against Turtle Mountain Friday evening — but according to head coach Bill Nelson they didn't come to play — at least not in the first half.
"We weren't ready to play the first half of the game," Nelson said in an interview with Jamestown 107.1 FM. "We've got to be ready to play right away. The minute we get on that bus it's game time.
"We didn't have a very good bus trip here or a very good pregame but we'll get that sured up and they know what needs to happen."
With the 56-12 win over the Braves, the Jays have moved to 2-0 in the Class A standings. The team hosts Grand Forks Central next Friday. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
While a gritty Turtle Mountain defense kept Jamestown to only an eight point lead the opening quarter, the defending Class A state champs began to piece some things together at the start of the second half.
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The Jays' attention to detail resulted in back-to-back scores to start the third frame.
It all started when senior quarterback Payton Hochhalter aired one out for Jackson Walters to advance 20 yards downfield. Hochhalter put on the hustle, churning out 30 more to get down to the 5-yardline. Aden Braun pushed past the Braves' defenses to put six points on the board.
Unofficially, Hochhalter was 10-for-18 for 241 yards and 4 total touchdowns. The signalcaller also rushed for a touchdown score of his own.
Walters had four catches for 171 yards and 2 touchdowns while Braun was knocking on the door of 50 yards rushing. The senior running back put up 45 on the ground and scored once unofficially.
Tyson Jorissen caught a trio of passes for 57 total yards and one touchdown.
Sara Sletto was perfect on PATs, knocking through all eight.
"I am glad she came to talk to us in May," Nelson said of the Jays' first varsity female kicker. "She's been doing a good job. There's a lot of trial by fire stuff and she's learning the rules of the game but she puts her nose to the grindstone and keeps working."
Almost immediately after Braun's score and Sletto's extra point made it 42-12 Blue Jays, TMCHS quarterback, Kobe Parisien, was picked off by Noah Meissner. The sophomore took it 30 yards to the house to paint another six on the board. The interception was the fifth turnover forced by the Blue Jay defense.
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Meissner also recorded a fumble recovery earlier in the game as did senior Preston Gall. Gall was also a threat on offense, hauling in a 10-yard pass that resulted in a first-half touchdown.
Turtle Mountain tried to fuel its fire with five minutes left on the clock and while they got down to within the 20, a pick by Eric Chea signaled the end of the two-hour ball game.
"We pieced some things together and found a way to win," Nelson said. "Now it's on to next week — we'll watch film starting tomorrow."
Jamestown 56, TMCHS 12
JHS 14 21 14 7 — 56
TMCHS 6 6 0 0 — 12
Records: Jamestown 2-0 overall, 1-0 Class A West Region; TMCHS 0-3, 0-1
