Published: 01:03 AM, Sat Sep 04, 2010
Jack Britt tames Hoggard for Richard Bailey's 100th win
Sherrell McMillan
Correspondent
There was a framed No. 100 Jack Britt jersey, thousands of fans, a special cheer and even $100 bills with coach Richard Bailey's face on them.
The atmosphere was indeed celebratory at Buccaneers Stadium on Friday night after Jack Britt's 27-17 win over Wilmington Hoggard, the 100th victory in school history.
"It's special, to get it this fast," Bailey said. "There's been a great group of people involved in this from the very beginning. It starts at the top and I've worked for two principals and I feel very lucky to do so. I've had great assistant coaches and we've had tremendous players."
Bailey, the school's only coach, has led Jack Britt (3-0) to three state 4-A title game appearances in the last six years.
"I'm very proud of what we've done, winning almost 10 games each year," said Bailey. "I think there are a lot of programs that would like to have that average. I know we're focused on this 100th win, but it wasn't a great win for us."
Hoggard (0-3), however, played a good spoiler.
The Vikings stayed in the game thanks to the running and passing of senior quarterback Jovan Genwright. In the second quarter, Genwright found tight end James Andrews for a 28-yard touchdown, to give the Vikings a 7-6 lead.
Three minutes later, junior Kenny Jenkins scored from three yards out to give Jack Britt a 12-7 halftime lead.
Trailing 20-7 and with the Buccaneers marching into its territory, Hoggard defensive back Billy Vaughn stepped in front of a Mark McRae pass and returned it 63 yards for a touchdown. With just over 7 minutes left in the fourth quarter, Jack Britt was clinging to a 20-17 lead.
"Tonight's game was a little harder than I thought, I think we got caught up in the hype," Bailey said. "Mistakes, turnovers and blunders - there was just a lot of blunders on offense for us."
On the Buccaneers' next series, Jenkins took a hand-off from McRae and went 66 yards for a touchdown, ending any hopes of a Hoggard come back.
"I saw the wide receivers blocking on the outside," Jenkins said. "So, I just saw the alley and just went for it. I knew I was going to be involved in the running game more, so I just tried to pick it up."
Defense takes hit
The 17 points allowed by the Britt defense was more than it's given up in its first two games combined. Senior tight end Eric MacLain said the defense has to have a better effort next week when the Buccaneers host Scotland.
"It was absolutely a huge disappointment," said MacLain. "I think we came in here with our heads really high and didn't think we'd have to do anything to win this game. It showed that every night, we're going to have to come out early and do work. We proved we can do it, but it'd be nice to not be playing in the fourth quarter."
Senior running back Julian Ingram rushed for 69 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries, while senior Jenkins totaled two touchdowns and 113 yards.