Sprayberry is a Region 7B-AAAA title contender -- for now.
Jerick McKinnon ran for one touchdown and threw for another to propel the Yellow Jackets to a 28-0 victory over Osborne on Friday.
McKinnon racked up 167 all-purpose yards in three quarters as Sprayberry won its third straight game.
P.J. Stone set the tone early by returning the opening kickoff 73 yards and McKinnon scored on a 13-yard quarterback draw three plays later to give Sprayberry (3-2, 1-0) a 7-0 lead.
McKinnon hooked up with Marcus Moses on a 39-yard touchdown pass on third-and-17 midway through the second quarter to give Sprayberry a 13-0 lead. That capped off a pivotal 13-play, 70-yard drive that was sustained by Alec Kinard’s 6-yard run on a fake punt at the Sprayberry 37-yard line.
“It was a little bit of a gamble, but we felt like we had them outnumbered,” Sprayberry coach Billy Shackelford said. “They had overshifted to the kicker’s foot. It’s one of those things where you’re a goat if you don’t get it and you look pretty smart if you do.”
Nine plays later, Moses leaped in the air over a defensive back and hauled in a rainbow pass from McKinnon at the Cardinals’ 5-yard line. Moses ran untouched into the end zone as the defender fell down.
The scoring drive lasted 8 minutes and wore down the Osborne defense, which was on the field for two-thirds of the first half.
Osborne’s best scoring threat came late in the third quarter when defensive lineman J.D. Williams intercepted a McKinnon pass that was tipped. Osborne (2-3, 0-1) marched 18 yards to the Sprayberry 2-yard line, but the Cardinals were undone by running back Jerimi Johnson’s fumble that Sprayberry pounced on at the 5.
“That’s three games in a row where our defense has shut people out, so I’m proud of them,” Shackelford said.
Kinard came in at quarterback and guided the Yellow Jackets on a 95-yard scoring drive that culminated in a 45-yard touchdown pass to Stone.
“It’s one game at a time,” Shackelford said. “It’s a long season and we’ve got to get back to the drawing board and start fixing what’s wrong and keep working on what’s right.”
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