The last time... make that, the only time, Jefferson and Lisbon Beaver played football, the Falcon seniors were 3, perhaps 4 years old.
Friday night, the Falcons and Beavers will meet for the second time since Jefferson came out on the short end of a 34-8 verdict in Week 2 of the 1998 verdict at Falcon Pride Stadium.
Jefferson, having opened with road wins at LaBrae and Edgewood and standing second in the Division II, Region 5 playoff chase, will begin the home portion of its 2012 schedule boasting its first 2-0 start since 2006. A win Friday night would mark its first 3-0 start since 2004.
“We are very excited to be playing at home,” Falcons coach Jimmy Henson said. “We take a lot of pride in playing well at Falcon Pride Stadium.”
Jefferson, which is 78-76-1 all-time at FPS since it became its fulltime home in 1981 after playing one game there in 1980, is off to a start that may be a surprise to some considering the fine senior class — including Star Beacon Ashtabula County Player of the Year Connor Cleveland — it lost to graduation, but not Henson.
“I thought we had the potential to start out 2-0, with 19 seniors returning,” he said. “As I said before, we need to continue to improve, but I am happy so far.”
The Falcons are coming off a terrific effort at Edgewood. Led by senior quarterback Tony Chiacchiero’s off-the-charts 15-of-16 passing effort for 248 yards and three touchdowns, tailback Scott Davidson’s 110 yards rushing on 26 carries, including a 20-yard scoring jaunt and Jacob Hamilton’s 7 catches for 117 yards and two touchdowns, the Jefferson offense was rolling.
Meanwhile, the Jefferson defense made it two solid efforts in a row by limiting Edgewood to 154 yards of total offense.
Oh, by the way, there was the special teams. Senior kicker Brandon Balascio booted a 25-year field goal and Brett Powers took a punt 85 yards to the house to account for the Falcons’ final two dents on the scoreboard.
“I thought we played a very complete game,” Henson said. “The kids are executing the game plan very well.”
Still, there are also adjustments to be made. For example, Chiacchiero’s one incompletion at Edgewood was the result of a receiver running an incorrect route. The Warriors’ one score was set up by a long run on a play Jefferson had only 10 defenders on the field.
“We have to continue to try and eliminate mistakes,” Henson said. “The missed pass was caused by the wrong route being run and you can’t make mistakes like having 10 guys on the field.
“We still have plenty to work on to continue to improve each week.”
Jefferson wide receiver/defensive back Cole Erdel, a fine, athletic player who scored the Falcons’ first touchdown of the season on a pass from Chiacchiero at LaBrae, did not play at Edgewood because of a sprained ankle and is listed as day-to-day for this week. It took three players to fill Erdel’s key roles for the Falcons — Jesse Skaverk on offense, Jerry Scott on defense and Nick Tripodi long snapped.
Beaver comes in at 1-1, which considering it’s coming off three-straight 1-9 seasons, shows improvement. The Beavers defeated East Liverpool in their opener, 21-0, in first-year head coach Jeremy McElroy’s debut running the show. They came out on the short end against visiting Crestview last Friday night, 31-6.
In that game, Trevel Thompkins scored Beaver Local’s touchdown and he registered 104 yards on eight carries.
Henson, though, has seen both ends of the Beavers’ spectrum.
“Tough to tell about Beaver,” he said. “They looked real good in their opener against East Liverpool. They ran the ball very effectively and their defense pitched a shutout.
“Against Crestview, they never were able to keep their offense in rhythm. They moved the ball effectively, at times, but weren't able to punch it in until late in the game.”
Henson said Beaver is a power team, one that uses both 1- and 2-back schemes on offense and an even front, with multiple coverages on defense.
He is impressed with the Beavers’ offensive backfield.
“Both of their running backs are big kids with good speed and run the ball very hard,” he said. “They have an offensive and defensive lineman who is very active. He creates a lot of disruptions when he is on defense.”
Henson’s list of how the trail to victory is to the point, as usual.
“Stop the run, win the turnover battle and — DYJ (do your job),” he said.
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