By Noah Dalton
MITCHELL – After an 0-4 start to the season, Mitchell picked up their first win of the year on Friday night, besting conference foe Crawford County, 45-24
It was a total team effort from the Bluejackets, who scored touchdowns on offense, defense and special teams on the night on their way to a season-high 45-point total.
Most of that scoring came in a dominant first-half performance from Mitchell, who took a 26-0 lead, scoring on every drive until midway through the second quarter when they were forced to punt for the first time.
In the first quarter, the Bluejackets posted 26 points, matching their previous season-high scoring mark that they’d set the week prior against Eastern Greene.
Those touchdowns were largely setup by the team’s defense, which forced a turnover on each of the Wolfpack’s first three drives of the game, with two interceptions from Blake King, one of which he returned 39 yards to the endzone, and a fumble that was recovered by Ezari Brazzel.
They ended the first half with a comfortable 39-8 lead, which was largely what propelled them into the win column for the first time this season.
Mitchell’s turbulent start to the year hasn’t been without positive signs, namely in the last two weeks.
Despite losing both matchups to West Washington and Eastern Greene, the Bluejackets’ young roster, led by first-year head coach Zach See, has taken notable strides on both sides of the ball, allowing them to compete more closely in losing efforts after some costly mistakes.
See felt coming into this game that it was only a matter of time until that effort and improvement showed itself in the form of a victory.
“I’m just happy for them. I’m proud of them. I told them before, I told them in locker room, I said, we’re due. We’ve been fighting too hard, we’ve been working too hard. You guys have put too much time into this,” he said.
“Don’t let another one slip through your fingertips, because we felt like last two weeks against[West Washington] and Eastern [Greene], we let one slip through our fingertips. We were right there, and we made some key mistakes late in the first half and then the second half, and it kind of got away from us. I think they were still hungry from that, right? I think they were ready.”
The game wasn’t without its obstacles for Mitchell, one in particular being Crawford County running back Kaidyn Messer, who rushed for 225 yards on 29 attempts, scoring one touchdown.
The Wolfpack’s offense had success moving the ball picking up more first downs (16) than the Bluejackets (13), picking up more combined yards, 260 for Crawford County to Mitchell’s 205 and outscoring them 16-6 in the second half.
Turnovers made the difference on the night, with the Wolfpack giving up the ball to Mitchell five times, three interceptions and two fumbles, putting them in scoring position each time or resulting in direct touchdowns in the form of pick-sixes scored by King and Malaki Goodman.
Goodman found the end zone four times in total for the Bluejackets, a 13-yard rush, a 23-yard reception, a 75-yard kickoff return and the interception returned for 42 yards. He was also the team’s top receiving target, pulling in two catches for 35 yards.
Quarterback Cam Gilstrap led the team’s rushing efforts with 110 yards and two touchdowns in 12 carries.
“I just think Malakai is always all over the field. He’s a great weapon to have and, and it wasn’t just him, either. We had Blake King flying all over Lucas Gosnell flying all over, Waylon German too. It was just good to see,” said See.
“They really played for each other tonight. And that’s something I always want to see as a head coach, is guys that just want to play for each other, and they just want to win together.”
As they look to follow up on this effort and continue to build their momentum, Mitchell will make the trip to Nashville to take on Brown County (3-2) for next week’s matchup.
See said his team would take a moment to celebrate Friday’s homecoming win before getting right back to work as they prepare for battle with the Eagles.
“I told them in the huddle, we enjoy this tonight. You guys have your fun and you celebrate this win, but I said, tomorrow morning, eight o’clock, we’re back on track, and we’re looking to get ready for Brown County. So, we enjoy ourselves tonight, but like I told them, good teams they may celebrate that night, then the next night or the next, whenever their next practice is, they’re back to work,” See said.
“That’s the way we’ve got to be if we want to get to where we want to go. We’ve got to come back in here tomorrow morning, locked in and loaded and engaged and ready to go and get ready for Brown County next week.”
