Sep. 4—The Jamestown High School football team didn’t need a momentum boost with 69 seconds remaining in the third quarter of its tilt against Turtle Mountain.
Adam Kallenbach gave his team one anyway.
“Adam is a pretty special kid,” JHS head coach Bill Nelson said. “He is a very intelligent and smart player.”
The Blue Jays were up 42-0 when Turtle Mountain quarterback Parker Wallette let loose a deep pass but instead of hitting one of his intended receivers, the ball ended up in Kallenbach’s mitts. Kallenbach, a senior free safety hauled in the pass, turn-tailed and ended up scoring the Jays’ seventh-straight touchdown of the night.
“His comment on that pick-six was — ‘I don’t know how I got to that,'” JHS head football coach Bill Nelson said of Kallenbach. “He’s just one of many, many kids who has put in a lot of time.”
All those kids who have put in time in the offseason helped the Jays to a 49-8 victory over Turtle Mountain. The Jays are now 2-0 in the Class A 11-man division while the Braves are 0-2 on the season.
The Jays will welcome Bismarck St. Mary’s, to town next Friday. The game is slated to begin at 7 p.m. The Saints went undefeated last season en route to a Class AA state title.
It took the Jays all of eight minutes to record the first official touchdown at Charlotte and Gordon Hansen Stadium.
After stuffing the Turtle Mountain offense on third down and forcing a punt, first-year starting quarterback Payton Hochhalter took over. Right out of the gates Hochhalter connected with Kallenbach on a 28-yard pass. Two plays later Jakob Schempp walked the ball in from the 3-yard line, completing a four-play 39-yard drive to make it a 7-0 with 9:49 left to play in the first quarter.
“This wasn’t a game that needed a whole lot of motivation,” Nelson said. “Since we stepped on this field for practice, (we’ve been excited). How can you not smile when you are out here?”
After the opening six scoreless minutes, it was difficult to find a point in the game where the Jays weren’t in the RedZone.
Hochhalter started off the Jays’ second drive of the game at the Jays’ 25-yard line with a 50-yard pass hauled in by Brode Hillstrom. After Schempp picked up 1st and goal, Hochhalter fired a bullet to Kallenbach on the slant for a five-yard reception. The Jays went 80 yards on the drive.
All-state sprinter Preston Kroeber put on the rockets to started off the second quarter. The senior receiver picked up more than 30 yards on a pass from Hochhalter. Hochhalter let loose another 26-yard pass to Hillstrom to make it 21-0 with about 9:49 left to play in the half. Hillstrom was the Jays’ leading receiver with three catches for more than 80 yards.
Nelson said the Jays’ 19-7 victory over Dickinson last week favored the passing game and added that he would like to see his offense run and pass the ball equally in the upcoming weeks. The head coach said the Jays improved in mixing up the offensive side of things down the stretch.
“There’s always stuff that we need to clean up but the goal is to get better every week and we did that,” Nelson said. “We were pretty solid on offense, pretty solid on defense and special teams were good. We’re 2-0 and we’re not going to complain about it.”
Kallenbach scored his second touchdown of the day on an 8-yard sweep route. Kallenbach, also the kicker for the Jays, went a perfect 7-for-7 on extra points. All seven times the Jays found themselves in the RedZone, the team ended up scoring.
Kroeber’s speed was taken advantage of midway through the third when the receiver hauled in an 11-yard reception for another six points.
While it seemed to be almost a guaranteed victory for the Jays, Turtle Mountain didn’t stop competing until the final seconds ticked away.
“Give Turtle Mountain credit,” Nelson said. “They were down their quarterback and a couple of other players and they didn’t stop fighting.”
Wallette, a stand-in quarterback, connected with senior Blue Kellogg to get the Braves on the board with just under six minutes to play in regulation. Houston Davis picked up another two points on the run. The Blue Jays got the ball back with two minutes left and ended up taking a knee to run out the clock.
“We are happy but not satisfied,” Nelson said of the team. “The goal is to go 1-0 every week. (Next week) we’ve got a big challenge in front of us but we are looking forward to it.”
Jamestown 49, Turtle Mountain 8
TM 0 0 0 8 — 8
JHS 14 21 14 0 — 49
Scoring
First quarter
JHS: 3-yard run by Jakob Schempp (Adam Kallenbach kick), 6:51.
JHS: 5-yard pass by Payton Hochhalter to Kallenbach (kick good), 0:59.
Second quarter
JHS: 26-yard pass by Hochhalter to Brode Hillstrom (kick good), 9:49
JHS: 8-yard run by Kallenbach (kick good), 7:28
JHS: 5-yard run by Paris Ndikum (kick good), 3:11
Third quarter
JHS: 11-yard pass by Hochhalter to Preston Kroeber (kick good), 5:52.
JHS: Adam Kallenbach 70-yard interception return (kick good), 1:09
Fourth quarter
TM: Parker Wallette pass to Blue Kellogg (Houston Davis run good), 5:59