BonnerSprings.com

Kansas City, Kan. — J.J. Jackson could have run for homecoming king on Friday night at Bishop Ward High School and probably received a few votes.

He did virtually everything else on the field, rushing for more than 200 yards and scoring five touchdowns as Bonner Springs spoiled homecoming for the Cyclones with a 56-7 victory.

“He ran great,” BSHS coach Lucas Aslin said. “He has run great all year. He is a great kid and works hard. He has a lot of potential.”

Jackson, a senior, is the type of player Aslin said he wishes he had more time to coach.

“I wish he was a sophomore,” Aslin said. “He will go on and play college ball somewhere next year.”

Jackson, who is on pace for 1,000 yards rushing, has taken his place among Bonner Springs’ recent line of talented running backs such as Max Barren, Tyler Jock and the Walker twins.

He takes pride in joining that group.

“We have had some good running backs come through here, and I just wanted to take my spot in that line,” he said.

Against Bishop Ward, Jackson slashed through the Cyclone defense and credited his offensive line with making his job easy.

“They did a great job up front, I just got to the edge and it was open,” he said. “They did a nice job all of them. I was just running.”

He ran for two touchdowns in the first half and three more in the second.

Jackson had touchdown runs of 51 yards, 9 yards and 69 yards in the second half. It was a half in which the Braves outscored the Cyclones 42-0 to break open a game that was 14-7 at intermission.

To open the third quarter, Bishop Ward fumbled the ball on first down.

On the next play, Jackson rushed 51 yards for a touchdown.

Bishop Ward punted after its next possession.

On the Braves’ next possession, quarterback Jordan Jackson — J.J.’s younger brother — threw a 47-yard touchdown pass to Stevie Williams, his first of two in the half.

After a Cyclones punt, Bonner Springs scored on a 9-yard run by J.J. Jackson. Nate Mitchell’s extra point was good.

Bishop Ward fumbled the ball on its next possession and Bonner Springs took over. Moments later, Jordan Jackson threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Williams, giving BSHS a 42-7 lead.

In the fourth quarter, J.J. Jackson rushed for a 69-yard touchdown and the Braves continued to roll.

Later, Thaddeus Glenn rushed for a 1-yard TD with primarily backups in the game. The running clock was on, and the Braves were en route to a 3-3 record entering district play against Schlagle next week.

The second half domination followed a first half where the Braves moved the football and stopped Bishop Ward most of the time, but they didn’t score enough points to take a decided lead in the game.

Aslin said he was frustrated with the team’s play in the first half and felt like it should have played better. He wants more consistent effort from his team.

“It is nice for them to be .500, but I am tired of them not playing to their potential,” he said. “You have to yell at them to get them to play. It is frustrating because when it is going good, it is going good.”

The Braves’ team’s game plan was simple against Bishop Ward on Friday — run the football. J.J. Jackson scored in the first quarter on a 5-yard run. That capped a 9-play, 54-yard drive.

It was all the scoring there would be in the first quarter and well into the second.

On numerous drives, Bonner Springs moved the football but struggled to finish drives.

Bishop Ward struggled to do much with the ball, accumulating just 7 yards in the first quarter, but the Cyclones were effective at reversing field position with a talented punting game that forced the Braves into tough field position.

Late in the second quarter, though, the Cyclones went for it on fourth down and 1 and failed to convert on their own 30-yard line with the score 7-0.

The Braves capitalized with a long pass from Jordan Jackson to Joe Dooley that gave BSHS the ball on the 2-yard line. On the next play, J.J. Jackson rushed for his second touchdown of the game.

With a 14-0 lead, Bonner Springs’ defense had its first mental lapse of the game. The Braves did not cover C.J. Vallejo who was wide open and caught a 48-yard touchdown pass from Luke Slupski.

The halftime score was 14-7.

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