KEYSTONE HEIGHTS – The Keystone Indians hosted the 2018 Spring Jamboree Football Classic Thursday night and brought in PK Yonge and the Union County Tigers from Lake Butler for a round-robin play of two quarters each. Keystone Heights used a predominant ground assault to punish the Blue Wave in game one, 21-7.

To Indians Head Coach Chuck Dickinson, the second game against the Tigers would be the bigger test. “That second game is going to be the bigger challenge. We’re going to have a lot of kids playing both ways this year, so we just have to take it one step at a time. These kids are going to have to be in great shape.” After one quarter of play, Keystone Heights stopped a 75-yard, quarter long drive that culminated with a Union County time out with three seconds remaining on fourth down, only to have Keystone get inside, strip the ball and leave the Tigers coming away empty.

“I tell all the kids, we don’t have a lot of depth, so you have to know how to play all the positions,” said Dickinson. “We’ll get as many in as we can to get experience and we’ll see who’ll rise to the top because at any time, you can become a starter.”

The first game began with a Keystone Heights drive using a steady dose of running back Kaleb Vojnovski for six runs, then Tyler Friedlin finding a seam for a 40-yard blast to the end zone to put Keystone up 7-0 at 5:55 in the first quarter.

“I thought those kids executed well

tonight,” said Dickinson. “They made a few mistakes, but all in all, we did well. We have all five linemen back and that’s a good thing.”

Up front, Keystone Heights showcased mammoth-sized Dan Dodd at tackle who could clear holes every time the Indians needed room. Dodd would reach deep into his conditioning as the giant worked both sides of the ball and never let up. Alongside Dodd was another mammoth, Joey Baxter. Up front, the pair were wrecking machines and proved so all night. When PK Yonge came up on offense, they wasted no time at all testing the Indians with a 30-yard-deep ball that looked like a sure mid-filed catch until Colton Tibbetts leapt with hand up, tipped the ball away and showed the Blue Wave they were ready from the first snap. After three and out, the Wave were punting back to the Indians. With another steady diet of Vojnovski and Friedlin, the Indians were moving the ball well, getting first downs.

Finally, Dickinson unleashed quarterback Gage Stevens who found Sterling Roberts in the flat for a 30-plus yard gain.

“That’s just our basic pass and I think if I can teach him to throw it a little sooner it would probably be a touchdown,” said Dickinson. “He waited a little too long, but he’s only going to be a sophomore. Hopefully he’ll learn from that.”

After two more Vojnovski and Friedlin runs, enter Colton Tibbetts with a pitch out around the left side that was stopped about two inches from crossing the goal line. Que up Vojnovski to come in and punch the ball in for score number two and 14-0 after a good Ian Schofield point after kick.

With nothing happening out of the backfield, PK Yonge quarterback Rishard Mavin took things into his own hands and showed the crowd he was a scrambling quarterback that could turn a broken play into an opponent’s headache. His 30-yard run ended the quarter still scoreless. The drive would die at the start of the second quarter where Keystone took over after a Yonge punt. In the second, the Indians stuck with what worked with Vojnovski and Friedlin, adding in an occasional pass from Stevens to Vojnovski to keep the Blue Wave guessing. Most impressive were the Dynamic Duo of Vojnovski and Friedlin lead blocking through holes for one another. When teamed up behind Dodd or Baxter, they could gain five yards at a clip. This drive would culminate with a Friedlin run right behind Dodd for another six points. Dickinson auditioned Colby Townsend for the point after, who passed with flying colors, 21-0. On the final Blue Wave drive, again it was Mavin to take his team 45 yards on a broken play before the Indians defense stopped him. Two plays later, the score was 21-7 where the game would end.

In the second game, it was Union County starting with the ball first, and stayed that way for an entire 10 minutes of regulation play. The 75-yard drive came down to a three second time out fourth and goal on the one-foot line.

“Defensively, we haven’t practiced a ton of defenses this year, but at least the kids were getting after it, playing hard and that’s exactly what we told them to do,” said Dickinson.

Keystone Heights stood tall on the snap, crushed the offensive line and broke into the backfield to raise havoc, stripping the ball. Even with the Tigers recovering, they walked away with a quarter long drive that ended with no score. “We have 35 kids on the sidelines tonight, but many of them are our eighth grade kids that are going to be JV. We’ll go into the season with 20-25 kids, so we have to be in great shape.”