GREAT FALLS — Nation Ford's pair of 1-2 punches proved to be too much for a youthful Great Falls squad to handle on Friday.
In the first half of the Falcons' 42-21 victory, quarterback Cameron Wells found wide-out Dijuan Ussery for two touchdown strikes, one from 10 yards and one from 26. That gives the duo five touchdown hookups already this season, and if that was the extent of the Nation Ford attack, maybe the host Red Devils could have stood their ground.
But the ground attack combination of 5-foot-8, 195-pound Daniel Jackson - who bowled over would-be tacklers - running up the middle and 6-foot-5, 230-pound wideout Jay Jay McCoullough - who gained chunks of yards - was too much.
Jackson finished with 206 yards on 20 carries for the Falcons, who improved to 2-0 thanks to his two fourth-quarter touchdowns that put the game far out of reach. McCoullough only carried the ball four times, but he picked up at least 12 yards on each of the play calls.
"That's chemistry," Jackson said. "We work well together."
The game started in favor of the Red Devils, with special teams leading their first two scores. Nation Ford took control of the game on its first drive of the third quarter, largely because of a pass from Andrew Komornik to fullback Brandon Sturdivant.
NATION FORD 42, GREAT FALLS 21
Great Falls | 9 | 6 | 0 | 6 | - | 21 |
Nation Ford | 7 | 14 | 7 | 14 | - | 42 |
SCORING SUMMARY
GF - safety
NF - Brandon Sturdivant 2 run (Corey Condron kick)
GF - Mac Means 76 kickoff return (Cody Mobley kick)
NF - Cameron Wells 10 pass to Dijuan Ussery (Condron kick)
NF - Wells 26 pass to Ussery (Condron kick)
GF - Ernest Talford 2 run (pass failed)
NF - Wells 10 pass to Jay Jay McCoullough (Wells pass to A.J. Jackson)
NF - Daniel Jackson 15 run (kick failed)
NF - Jackson 27 run (Condron kick)
GF - Talford 7 run (pass failed)
TEAM STATISTICS
GF | NF | |
First downs | 10 | 18 |
Rushes-yards | 34-77 | 34-324 |
Comp-Att-Int | 4-8-0 | 10-19-1 |
Passing yards | 76 | 145 |
Fumbles-lost | 0 | 0 |
Penalties-yards | 4-15 | 11-101 |
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING - NATION FORD: Daniel Jackson 29-206, Brandon Sturdivant 7-37, Jay Jay McCoullough 4-64, Cameron Wells 2-10, Jake Williams 1-7. GREAT FALLS: Jake Payseur 4-(minus-4), Ernest Talford 13-59, Shaquille Simpson 7-27, Clark Schofield 4-(minus-21), Mac Means 3-8, De'Vonta Cunningham 2-5, D.C. Caldwell 2-2.
PASSING - NATION FORD: Cameron Wells 9-18-115, Andrew Komornik 1-1-30. GREAT FALLS: Clark Schofield 4-8-76.
RECEIVING - NATION FORD: Dijuan Ussery 3-58, Brandon Sturdivant 2-39, Jay Jay McCullough 4-50, Daniel Jackson 1-(minus-2). GREAT FALLS: De'Vonta Cunningham 1-18, Xavier Holmes 1-6, Shaquille Simpson 2-52.
RECORDS: NATION FORD 2-0, GREAT FALLS 1-0
