Jefferson Football

Happy J-Hawks want more wins

Brian Webb loved seeing the happy faces.

The happy faces of the fans, the happy fans of the players, the happy faces of the coaching staff.

The Jefferson High School football team and its fans celebrated Friday night after the J-Hawks snapped their 24-game losing streak with a 12-7 victory over Dubuque Hempstead.

The ride home from Dubuque was a pleasure.

"It was much better," Webb said Saturday morning. "It was exciting to see the faces on the players, especially the seniors who hadn't won a game before."

The J-Hawks had not won a varsity football game since beating Dubuque Senior, 20-13, on Sept. 25, 2009, back when the current seniors were just freshmen.

Webb arrived from Carroll Kuemper this year as Jefferson's new coach and immediately began working to change the culture at Jefferson, instilling discipline and hard work as the cornerstones of his program.

The J-Hawks don't have a lot of players -- they dressed only 32 for their season opener against Prairie -- but Webb likes their attitude and determination. They began the year with losses to Prairie and Xavier and were outscored 77-7, but kept working.

"They never wavered, no matter who was the coach," said Webb. "They never wavered from Jefferson football. I told the coaches, we're going to stay the course in this program.

"From the first day I stepped on campus, I've never changed my philosophy, I've never changed my beliefs."

Jefferson trailed, 7-6, Friday night, but junior quarterback Layne Sullivan scored on a 2-yard run in the third quarter for a 12-7 lead and the J-Hawks made it stand up.

Webb was planning a post-game speech to his happy players, but he didn't get much of a chance.

"The crowd and the fans stormed the field. I got a Gatorade bath, so I didn't get a chance to talk to them a whole lot," he said.

He did manage a few heartfelt words, however. "I told them how proud I was of their efforts and that we're hoping this is just the beginning," he said.

Webb had received about 40 messages by 11 a.m. Saturday from family, friends, Jefferson alumni and members of the community, offering congratulations and words of encouragement.

"The main one was from my parents," he said. "They said they loved me and they're proud of me."

Webb enjoyed seeing the reaction of Jefferson's sophomore team Friday night after the varsity's big victory in Dubuque. The 10th graders soaked it in and loved it.

"Every single sophomore came up to me and congratulated me," he said. "I think they were more excited than the varsity. That's great to see. They're the future of our program."

Webb isn't kidding himself. He knows it was only one victory, albeit a very satisfying one. He knows he still needs to build the program, improve the feeder system, get more good athletes on the team and continue to get the Jefferson community involved with the team.

"Our biggest thing is changing the culture," he said. "Once we change the culture, the wins and losses will take care of itself."

The J-Hawks went back to work Saturday morning, reviewing Friday's victory and starting to prepare for next Friday's home game against Iowa City High.

"Our goal this year was not just to win one game," said Webb, looking ahead to the next challenge.

"We're getting there," he said. "We're not quite there yet."

Jubilant J-Hawks snap 24-game skid

DUBUQUE - The Cedar Rapids Jefferson football team doesn't have to answer questions about a long losing streak anymore.

The 24-game streak is dead.

It ended Friday night when the J-Hawks clippped Dubuque Hempstead, 12-7, in a Mississippi Valley Conference game that was played at the University of Dubuque.

“Let somebody else deal with the issue of losing strings,” said new Jefferson Coach Brian Webb, who lost his first two games this season before tearing the streak to pieces.

The J-Hawks had not won a game since defeating Dubuque Senior, 20-13, on Sept. 25, 2009. They lost the last four games of the 2009 campaign, lost all nine games in 2010, lost all nine games again in 2011 and began this year with two losses before Friday's big win.

Jefferson (1-2, 1-0) collected 139 yards rushing and 64 yards passing in the first half, but trailed at halftime 7-6. “It seemed like we should have had more points than we had, but in the end we had enough,” said Webb.

The J-Hawks rolled up 272 yards on the ground by game's end. Michael Moncivais led the way with 142 yards on 18 carries and had help from Nick O’Connell, who carried the ball 15 times for 75 yards
and a 5-yard touchdown in the first half.

“It was my first start,” said Moncivais. “It is a great feeling to win and to know that I could help. At halftime the coaches just told me to keep working and that they believed in me. We trusted in each other and got the win.”

Jefferson quarterback Layne Sullivan complemented his running back tandem with 53 yards on 15 carries. He scored on a 2-yard run in the third quarter for a 12-7 lead and it turned out to be the game-winner. Sullivan also completed five of 10 passes for 104 yards.

“It feels so great to win,” said Sullivan. “It has been too long coming. The game was close but we never wavered. Our line really came off the ball and we just kept battling.”

The J-Hawk defense played a big role in the victory as well. They limited the Mustang offense to just 24 yards rushing in the first half. Hempstead’s lone score came on an 81-yard pass from Drew Wagner to Travis Boleyn with 2:42 left in the first quarter.

“Coach (Chris) Buesing prepared an excellent game plan for our defense tonight, and they executed pretty well on that side of the ball,” said Webb. “We just have to learn to stop that big play that seems to get us all too often.”

Anton Robertson came up with a big fumble recovery and Blake Bernauer came up with a critical interception in the second half when it looked as though the Mustangs were on a scoring drive.

Dubuque Hempstead (0-3, 0-1) was led offensively by Wagner, who completed 7 of 20 passes for 143 yards and rushed for 29 more.

Jefferson’s players, coaches and fans were elated. Now they have a one-game winning streak to build on. Jefferson hosts Iowa City High next Friday night at Kingston Stadium.

JEFFERSON 12, HEMPSTEAD 7

CRJ           DH
First Downs              16            10
Rushing                49-272      23-74
Passing yards         104          143
Fumbles/Lost           1/1          1/1

Jefferson         6   0   6   0 - 12
Hempstead      7   0   0   0 -  7

Scoring Plays

DH - Drew Wagner 81 yard pass to Travis Boleyn (Ryan Tranmer kick)
CRJ - Nick O’Connell 4 yard run (Reece Suckow kick failed)
CRJ - Layne Sullivan 2 yard run (Suckow kick failed)

Individual Statistics

Rushing
Jefferson: Moncivais 18-142, O’Donnell 15-75, Sullivan 15-53, Kloubec 1-2.
Hempstead: Zenner 11-23, Wagner 9-29, Daack 3-22.

Passing
Jefferson: Sullivan 5-10, 104
Hempstead: Wagner 7-20, 143

Receiving
Jefferson: Watson 1-13, Bernaeur 1-21, Kloubec 1-7, Koering 1-23, Wiederin 1-40.
Hempstead: Zenner 3-13, Boleyn 2-94, Goedert 1-15, Flynn 1-8.

Robinson out for the season

Jefferson running back Creighton Robinson suffered a broken foot in the J-Hawks' season-opening 28-7 loss at Prairie on Aug. 24 and is out for the season.

Robinson led Jefferson in rushing against Prairie with 37 yards.

Robinson also is a returning starter on the Jefferson basketball team. He is expected to be healed in time for that season.

Xavier destroys Jefferson, 49-0

It took Xavier one play to assert its authority over Jefferson and one half to put the J-Hawks away Thursday night at Kingston Stadium.

Senior Cal Stovie ran 80 yards for a touchdown on the game's first play from scrimmage, Xavier rolled up a 42-0 lead by halftime and the No. 7 Saints destroyed the J-Hawks, 49-0.

Senior Reggie Schulte completed only six passes, but four went for touchdowns. Jim Moore caught two of them.

Stovie also scored on a 51-yard punt return.

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