The Riversprings Bears football team welcomed the Taylor County Bulldogs to J.D. Jones Stadium at Reynolds Memorial Field on Thursday October 25th, in a matchup with a special twist:  the father of the Bulldog head coach has his name on the stadium.

Tanner Jones, former Wakulla War Eagle standout and son of legendary coach J.D. Jones is in his first season at the helm of the Taylor County Middle School program. 

The Bulldogs entered the game with a potent passing attack, which is a big deal at the middle school level.  The Bears didn’t want Coach Jones homecoming to be too happy, so they prepared intensively for the Dogs.  Having Coach Jimbo Rozar, one of the best qb’s to ever play for the War Eagles, on the RMS staff helped to prepare the Bear defense for a crisp passing attack.  The Riversprings offense also worked hard all week in practice, wanting to hopefully play their best game yet.

The RMS offense got going quickly, putting together a drive from their 41 yard line.  The drive was accentuated with a nice mixture of running and passing, highlighted by a 17 yard pass to Jake McCarl and a 7 yard touchdown trot by Demarcus Lindsey.  Jacob Austin punched in the PAT and the Bears were up 8-0.  RMS would recover the ensuing kickoff, and go on the march again.  Four plays into the drive the Bears hit pay dirt again, this time on a 35 yard touchdown pass from running back Demarcus Lindsey to Kody Zanco.  When the first quarter ended, RMS was up 14-0 on the visiting Bulldogs.

After the early scoring barrage, the Bears would suffer a cornucopia of miscues, mental errors, and turnovers.  The Bears lost a fumble on the Taylor County 12 yard line, and had a pass intercepted on the Bulldog 6 yard line.  RMS wouldn’t score again until late in the fourth quarter, when Demarcus Lindsey returned a Taylor County punt for a 63 yard touchdown. 

Lindsey led RMS offensively, accounting for 74 yards of total offense.  Lindsey also had his hand in all three RMS touchdowns.  Zach Norman was the leading passer, going 5 of 9 for 54 yards and 1 interception.  Jacob Austin was the leading rusher for the Bears, accounting for 55 yards on 10 carries.  Kody Zanco caught 1 pass good for 35 yards and a touchdown.

The Riversprings defense played tough all night.  Jacob Marin was the leading tackler on the night, tallying 7 stops.  Demarcus Lindsey, Jake McCarl, and Andrew Harrison also had productive nights chipping in 4, 3.5, and 3.5 tackles respectively.  Defensive back Lexpie Johnson picked off a Taylor County pass and returned it 38 yards into Taylor County territory.  When the final gun sounded, the Bears were victorious 20-14.

The win brings Riversprings season record to 4-3.  RMS final game is on Tuesday afternoon at 4:30 p.m. at Kingdom Life Prep in Tallahassee.

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