Convincing back to back wins for Jefferson

DAVENPORT - Six years is a long time.

Cedar Rapids Jefferson head football coach Brian Webb knows that. His J-Hawk players know that. They know just how long it's been since the Jefferson football team has won multiple games in a season, and Thursday night at Brady Street Stadium, they wiped that number away in convincing fashion.

'They're tired of losing, and that's the bottom line,” Webb said after his J-Hawks demolished the Davenport West Falcons, 62-0. 'That's what I tried to do when I came here. Every once in a while you get sick and tired of being sick and tired. Losing is not fun. It's just a mind-set, it's a mentality and accountability piece. We have kids that are buying into what we're doing every single day.”

Any doubt as to the result of the game was cast away very early in the J-Hawks' quest to reach .500. And with that cast doubt came some scoring numbers the Jefferson program hasn't reached in at least a decade.

All of last season, the J-Hawks scored 111 points. Through the first four games of 2014, they've put up 161, 104 of which in the last two weeks against Davenport North and Davenport West.

Webb said it all comes back to effort - something he and his assistant coaches have preached over and over in practice so far this season.

'We were playing full speed. Everybody. JV, starters, no matter what, we were playing full speed to the ball and it was incredible to see,” Webb said. 'And that's what it takes. The effort level was the highest I've seen it all year. Probably tonight was the highest I've seen in my three years, the effort level and just the tenacity and want and will to win.”

The J-Hawks were stout on both sides of the ball all night.

Jefferson punted on its first drive, from their second drive on, the offense found the end zone every time it had the ball in the first half. And though the final total yardage mark of 289 doesn't seem like a lot in a 62-0 rout, starting field position took away opportunities for more.

Three times, long punt returns set the J-Hawks up inside the Falcons' 15-yard-line. They scored three other times from inside the 10, twice from seven yards out on runs by Mason Short. Short only had three carries all night, for 19 yards, but was 2 for 3 on touchdown runs.

Quarterback Jesse Furrow only played the first half, and was 4 of 6 for 79 yards and three touchdowns.

And while the J-Hawks offense did its job finishing off drives - seven of the nine touchdowns were scored on one-play drives - the defense did its job as well. Two Jefferson defenders had interception returns for touchdowns, highlighted by Valentino Green's 82-yard return for a score.

Linebacker Dalton Kuehl made his return from a left knee injury as well, getting back to the field after missing two weeks. He said he was chomping at the bit to be on the field for a win.

'It felt great to be back. It was a great win,” Kuehl said. 'I think this just goes to show how hard we've been working in practice the last two weeks. I wanted this pretty bad, I've been itching to get back on the field.

'The sky is the limit, that's our mind-set.”

The focus now immediately switches to a week from Friday, when Jefferson meets Kennedy at Kingston Stadium. Both Furrow and linebacker Luke Sedlacek addressed the team after the game, imploring their teammates to be ready and keep the win streak going.

Getting to this point - where a third straight win is possible - has taken a lot of time and effort for the players, Webb and his assistants. And while they're enjoying it, they don't want it to end.

'The last couple years have been tough, but we stayed the course of what we believe and what I believe in,” Webb said. 'Our assistant coaches have just done a phenomenal job coaching these kids, and they're a big piece of why we are so successful is our assistant coaches.

'But the competition is about to get a lot tougher. The kids played hard tonight, but it's going to be the Kennedy Cougars here shortly, and we've got to get ready to beat those guys. We've just got to continue to get better.”

l Comments: (319) 368-8884; jeremiah.davis@thegazette.com