A pile of Essex defensive players — including Jodecee Cox (17) — converge on West Point running back Aiden Ratcliffe.
Even a slick playing surface couldn’t put a crimp in the Essex rushing attack Friday night in the Trojans’ opening round football playoff game against West Point.
Behind Jaden Holmes’s season-high 201 yards rushing, Essex rolled up 451 ground yards in a 64-0 rout of the Pointers.
Essex improved to 10-1 and will next host Middlesex, a 36-34 upset winner over Northampton in the first round, in the semifinals.
Holmes scored a season-high five touchdowns on carries that covered 33, 87, 11, 10, and 57 yards. He averaged 25.1 yards per tote on just 8 rushing attempts.
Afterward, he credited his teammates for his performance.
“I would say my entire offense,” Holmes responded when asked the key to his success Friday night. “I give all credit to them.”
Freshman running back Demetrius Stewart contributed 89 yards rushing on 6 carries.
Essex managed to post the trouncing despite a shaky start in which the Trojans mishandled the opening kickoff. West Point covered the loose ball and picked up a first down before missing a field goal attempt.
The Trojans’ Demetrius Stewart prepares to go airborne after being upended by West Point’s Kekoa Ferguson and clutched by the Pointers’ Ben Fulks. Stewart rushed for 89 yards in the Trojans’ 64-0 playoff win.
The Trojans then dominated the remainder of the opening half, scoring on their first six possession while constructing a 43-0 halftime lead.
“We pride ourselves on special teams and we didn’t get it done on that opening kickoff due to some miscommunication,” Essex coach Todd Jones observed. “But, we stuck together and got things done.”
Jones said he was impressed with how his team executed offensively, in spite of two turnovers including a fumble at the West Point goal line just before intermission.
Nine players carried the ball for the Trojans with second teamers seeing all of the second half action.
“We have a bunch of different guys who can carry it and do some damage for us,” Jones said.
Keion Hence stepped in at quarterback for Zay Bundy who rested a tweaked ankle. He ran for 34 yards on 5 carries and scored on a 13- yard run in the second quarter.
“Keion did a good job of stepping in for us and I thought he orchestrated the offense really well,” Jones said.
Defensively, Essex held West Point, which dressed just 16 players, to 78 yards total offense.
“We did a good job of flying to the football once we got things going and our special teams got things going well for us,” Jones stated.
Izaya Terpening had a pair of punt returns for 68 yards, both of which set up Essex scores.
The second team offense collected 121 total yards and produced 3 touchdowns.
Jaydien Taylor scored on rushes of 10 and 16 yards, while Markeise Braxton found pay dirt on a 26- yard carry.
Holmes’s 33-yard run capped a 6-play, 80-yard drive on the Trojans’ initial series after the Pointers’ unsuccessful field goal.
After forcing a West Point punt, Holmes needed 12 seconds to dash 87-yards to the end zone as the Trojans’ advantage grew to 16-0.
A Davon Childs fumble recovery at the West Point 38 set up the Trojans’ next score which occurred on an 11-yard Holmes run.
Terpening’s 31-yard punt return to the Pointers’ 17 set up the home team’s next touchdown. Hence did the scoring honors from 13-yards out.
After stopping a West Point fourth down gamble, Holmes scored from 10-yards out to finish off a 3-play, 37-yard sequence.
Following another West Point punt, Holmes scored on a 57-yard burst to conclude the first half scoring.
At the start of the second half, the Trojans’ Elijah Morton forced a fumble that was recovered by teammate Jodecee Cox at the WP 33.
Taylor’s 10-yard TD run hiked the Trojans’ lead to 50-0 following Kyran Howard’s third of six successful PAT attempts.
Tim Walker’s fumble recovery set up Braxton’s TD run and Taylor’s 16-yard sprint in the fourth quarter capped the scoring.
West Point was led by Larry Lovell’s 40 yards rushing on eight attempts.
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