The North Jackson Chiefs got the kind of home opener they were looking for Friday against the visiting DAR Patriots. North Jackson defeated DAR by mustering more offense than they had produced in their previous two outings combined. The win was the first for first-year head coach Chandler Tygard, and he was proud of his team’s performance. Due to the Chiefs’ struggles with penalties over the previous two games, Tygard brought in game officials to referee practices last week, and it appears to have paid dividends. DAR opened the scoring with a 63-yard touchdown run by their quarterback, Justin Stubblefield, on the first play from scrimmage. The PAT was good, and the Patriots led 7-0 just 30 seconds into the game. The Chiefs countered seconds later when Chiefs’ quarterback Dalton Morris connected with Kyle Posey for a 49-yard scoring strike. Tygard opted for a 2-point conversion, and the Chiefs led 8-7 with less than a minute of football having been played. Johnny Gilliam scored from 25 yards out minutes later to stretch the Chiefs’ lead to 15-7. The Patriots answered with a field goal to close the first quarter at 15-10. DAR struck again in the second quarter when Stubblefield hit Martius Leonard for a touchdown, and then again for the 2-point conversion, to give the Patriots an 18-15 lead. Gilliam again found the endzone for North Jackson, but the 2-point conversion failed to leave the score at 21-18, Chiefs advantage. The Chiefs followed up through the air when Morris connected with Brady Cunningham for a scoring strike, and KJ Huckabee found the endzone on the 2-point conversion. The Patriots scored again late in the second quarter to close the half at 29-24 with the Chiefs leading. DAR would only score once more in the final minute of the game, and it would be too little, too late. The Chiefs turned up the pressure in the second half with a touchdown strike from Carter Gass to Morris and two more Gilliam touchdowns. Morris added the last touchdown, and North Jackson defeated DAR 57-31. Morris had a big night, completing five passes for 192 yards and two touchdowns. Morris also had two touchdowns rushing and receiving. On the ground, Gilliam led with 108 yards on 10 carries and four touchdowns.
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