HOLLANDALE - The Simmons Blue Devils were on fire Friday night as they hosted the Ray Brooks Tigers, overwhelming them in a 40-14 win.
After the victory, Simmons head coach Timothy Johnson talked about the team’s preparation leading up to the game.
“We tried to clean up all the details. We’ve been really getting out there in practice and practice went really good this week,” Johnson said. “So, we just finally came through and finally played the scheme how it’s supposed to be played.”
One player in particular, sophomore running back Vontrez Rush, certainly made the scheme work for him finishing with two rushing touchdowns, one for 12 yards and the other, 13 and also a pick-six.
Rush had carried for more than 100 yards by the time the second half started. His mindset, in a nutshell was, “Win the game, put up numbers,” and that he did. “A thousand rushing yards,” Rush said when sharing what one of his goals for the season was.
Another touchdown soon followed Rush’s, after an impressive drive down the field orchestrated by senior quarterback Ta’Darrius Williams. Williams rushed for a gain of 34 on 1st down and the next play would be a 28-yard completion to sophomore receiver, Jermaine Edwards.
The Tigers were able to get on the board with senior Taquan Moore returning the ball after the kick for nearly 80 yards for a touchdown. However, they struggled with penalties and penetrating the Blue Devils defensive line and faced a 26 point deficit going into the second half.
With the score at 32-6, the Tigers opened up the second half with a costly fumble recovered and returned for a touchdown by Simmons’ senior linebacker, Stemarion Edwards. With the successful 2-point conversion, the score was 40-6.
Edwards was surprised at his own success Friday night having missed two days of practice because of an illness. “We’ve been in practice taking everything seriously and we’re trying to just get back to a championship,” he said.
Edwards said he feels like as a team, they’re beginning to gel even more and has high expectations for himself as well. “I’m trying to get Mister 1A Football and get back to a championship,” he said.
After a sack on 4th and 5 by sophomore lineman Tymon Wells, the Blue Devils were clearly dominating defensively. However, the Tigers still had a bit of fight in them with Treminski Jackson on the receiving end of a 38-yard touchdown pass.
The 2-point conversion attempt that followed was successful and that play would end the game with the Simmons Blue Devils winning, 40-14.
Ray Brooks head coach Jerry Walker certainly did not take the Tiger’s defeat at face value. “We’re young and we’ve got two seniors that we’re trying to steer in the right direction and get this entire ship steering in the right direction,” he said. “We didn’t quit. We stayed the course. They out manned us up front but we persevered.“
The Simmons Blue Devils are now 3-2 on the season. They will travel to Ethel this Friday to face the Ethel High Tigers.
