Team

Warren JFK

Record	Div.	Conf.
7/6	Div. VII	North Coast League

Team

South Range

Record	Div.	Conf.
4/6	Div. V	Independents

Turnovers lead JFK past South Range

By Tom Williams

williams@vindy.com

Warren

In their season opener, the South Range and Warren JFK high school football teams were locked in a battle of field goals and field position.

But a barrage of Raiders’ giveaways in the second half had the Eagles soaring.

JFK safety Evan Boyd intercepted three passes after Ryan Lee recovered a muffed kickoff at the South Range 13 to propel the Eagles to Saturday’s 30-10 victory at Mollenkopf Stadium.

“Our mantra since we’ve been here is we’ve got to play better defense,” Warren JFK head coach Jeff Bayuk said. “We really did that. Ryan Lee, our inside linebacker, he was a beast tonight.”

In the third quarter, the Eagles scored 17 points in 80 seconds.

“We capitalized on our chances,” Bayuk said. “It’s a big win because it’s against a great program.”

Justin Bofenkamp’s second field goal — a 33-yarder with 4:27 remaining in the third quarter — put the Eagles ahead 6-3. Then the turnovers took over,

“It bounced off of his chest and it ricocheted right back to us,” Bayuk said of the ensuing kickoff that found Lee. “Two of our guys missed it.”

Lee didn’t. Three plays later, quarterback Bobby Jefferson scored from the 1 for a 10-point lead.

On South Range’s next possession, quarterback Seth Morrow tried to hit Austin Kelly with a pass, but Jacob Coates deflected the ball and Boyd caught it, running 27 yards for a 20-3 lead.

“It’s awesome,” Boyd said of the win. “Our linemen were unbelievable blocking.”

Bayuk said Boyd made his first start at safety after the coaches had toyed with the idea of his playing linebacker.

“Tonight, I think we found the position he belongs at,” Bayuk said. “He really did a great job.”

On the Raiders’ next series, Boyd intercepted the ball and returned it to the Warren JFK 43. South Range forced a punt, but on the next play, Boyd had his third pickoff.

“The ball was thrown right to me — you can’t ask for anything better than that,” Boyd said.

That set up Bofenkamp’s 35-yard field goal for a 23-3 lead.

“We made mistakes against a good team,” South Range head coach Dan Yeagley said. “We’ve a lot of games to go. These kids are going to regroup — we’re a lot better than we showed tonight.”

The first half was paradise for lovers of defensive football as both teams struggled to move the ball. South Range generated three first downs to JFK’s two.

“They really shut us down in the first half, they were doing a lot of blitzing and putting a lot of pressure on our offensive line,” Bayuk said.

The Raiders’ defense set up their first score after a shanked punt was recovered at the Eagles’ 42.

Morrow completed passes to Greg Dunham (8 yards), Taymer Graham (7 yards) and Mitch Dolak (10 yards) to set up Levi Taylor’s 28-yard field goal early in the second quarter.

The Eagles’ defenders responded with their own surge right before halftime when the Raiders took over at their own 10.

After a 5-yard penalty, the Eagles twice stopped Ethan Dominguez for 2-yard losses, forcing a punt from the end zone. Coates’ 17-yard return to the South Range 14 set up Bofenkamp’s 29-yard field goal.