Much like the 2010 season opener between Guthrie and Duncan, the 2011 BlueJays started quickly and put away any doubt as to what the outcome was going to be with the ability to run the ball and stopping the run.
Guthrie took the game’s opening drive and scored in 10 plays to set the tempo while the Demons struggled to find positive plays in a 36-0 BlueJay win inside Halliburton Stadium. A season ago, Guthrie blanked Duncan 25-0 to begin the season.
The Demons finished with just 56 yards of offense, including four yards rushing. Duncan’s longest pass play was nine yards and managed just three rushing plays that went 14-yards or longer with the longest being 19 yards. To make things worse for the Demons, they were penalized for 50 yards.
On the flip side, the Jays used the running game at will led by senior Luke Davis. Davis rushed 107 yards on nine carries in the first half alone. He finished the game with 123 yards on 12 touches and was named the F&M Bank Player of the Game.
The offense managed 290 yards of total offense with 282 of those coming via the running game.
Guthrie took advantage of their veteran offensive line with multiple running backs and quarterback Bryan Dutton. Sophomore running back Kai Callins, who finished with 12 carries for 79 yards, took off for an 18-yard run to put his team inside the 10-yard line on their opening drive and a few plays later scored on a 2-yard run to finish the 65 yard opening drive. Dutton found Davis for the 2-point conversion to give the Jays an early 8-0 lead.
The scored remained that way after the first quarter, but the Jays were back in the end zone early in the second quarter. This time the scoring drive took just 2:12 when junior running back JT McFadden scored on his first carry of the season with a 20-yard score. Esau Paez’s extra point split the uprights for a 15-0 advantage.
Guthrie was back in the end zone just before the half when McFadden took his second carry and again hit pay dirt from 8-yards out to cap off a 11-play drive that consumed 6:13 of game clock and put the Jays up 22-0 at the half.
The Jays controlled every aspect in the game especially the first half including time of possession. Guthrie accounted for 18 of the 24 first half minutes on offense.
Dutton scored both of the second half touchdowns with one in each quarter. His first score of the year came from 8-yards and his second from 18-yards. He finished with nine carries for 58 yards to go with his two scores.
Guthrie proved as long as Duncan was unable to stop their running game they were not going to abandon it. Case in point, the Jays attempted just nine passes all night.
The BlueJay defense, who collected four shut-outs a season ago, controlled the game whether Duncan tried to use speed on the outside, or go deep down the field with the passing game. Duncan was forced to go to the pass more often with the lopsided score board and the Jays were able to get to quarterback Brandon Silva often in the second half.
Up next, the Jays must travel north to Ponca City on Friday evening. The Wildcats dropped their season opener to Sapulpa 42-37.
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