TYLER – Jacksonville broke open a tight game with five second-half touchdowns, two of the defensive variety, and pulled away from Palestine, 47-26, on a rain-soaked Friday night at CHRISTUS TMF Rose Stadium.

Despite the two teams combining for 10 touchdowns, neither offense accumulated more than 271 yards of offense on the night.

Chris Carpenter had a 31-yard pick-six, and teammate Steve Gallegos followed with a 17-yard fumble return for a touchdown to put Jacksonville (1-1) up 34-12 late in the thrd quarter.

Palestine (0-2) cut the deficit to one score with a 56-yard touchdown run from Josh Williams and a 5-yarder by Quintin Cook early in the fourth, but Jacksonville’s Deshawn McCuin sped 62 yards for a touchdown, and T.J. Ratliffe followed with a 5-yard scoring run to put the game away.

McCuin, a TCU commit and starting defensive back, played sparingly at quarterback and finished with a team-best 92 rushing yards on five carries. Ratliffe added 85 yards and two TD’s on 20 carries.

Jacksonville’s Tristen Shewmake completed 7 of 15 passes for 100 yards, including a 46-yard touchdown pass to Joydaysion Thompson in the first quarter.

The duo of Williams and Cook combined for 127 rushing yards to lead Palestine, while quarterback Christian Hutchinson threw for 124 yards, a touchdown, and two interceptions.

Jacksonville wasted an 82-yard kickoff return by McCuin to begin the game, but caught another break on special teams when Palestine muffed a punt inside its own 5. That set up Aaron Richardson’s 1-yard touchdown run for a 6-0 Jacksonville lead.

Shewmake’s connection to Thompson pushed the lead two touchdowns, but Palestine answered on the ensuing series when Hutchinson found Tyler Gray for a 27-yard touchdown, cutting Jacksonville’s lead to 13-7 late in the first quarter.

Palestine’s Keshawn Nonette tackled Carpenter, Jacksonville’s punter, in the end zone following a bad snap for a safety in the second quarter. And Tony Guzman’s 46-yard field goal as time expired in the first half trimmed the Wildcats’ deficit to 13-12 at halftime.

Jacksonville struck first in the third quarter when Shewmake’s 33-yard completion to Thompson set up Ratliffe’s 5-yard touchdown run, which preceded Jacksonville’s two defensive touchdowns.

Both teams are back in action next Friday night. Palestine hosts Rusk (0-2), while Jacksonville finishes non-district at Henderson (0-2).

Jacksonville 47, Palestine 26

At CHRISTUS TMF Rose Stadium, Tyler

Palestine            7      5      7      7    –    26
Jacksonville      13      0    21    13    –    47

First Quarter
JAC—Aaron Richardson 1 run (kick failed), 9:07.
JAC—Joydaysion Thompson 46 pass from Tristen Shewmake (Andy Pineda kick), 6:37.
PAL—Tyler Gray 27 pass from Christian Hutchinson (Tony Guzman kick), 2:29.
Second Quarter
PAL—Safety, Keshawn Nonette tackles Chris Carpenter in end zone, 7:36.
PAL—FG Guzman 46, :00.
Third Quarter
JAC—T.J. Ratliffe 5 run (Alejandro Pina-Sanchez kick), 8:27.
JAC—Carpenter 31 interception return (Pina-Sanchez kick), 6:37.
JAC—Steve Gallegos 17 fumble return (Pina-Sanchez kick), 3:21.
PAL—Josh Williams 56 run (Pineda kick), 3:06.
Fourth Quarter
PAL—Quintin Cook 5 run (Pineda kick), 10:42.
JAC—Deshawn McCuin 62 run (kick failed), 10:25.
JAC—Ratliffe 2 run (Pineda kick), 6:59.

                                        PAL                 JAC
First Downs                          11                   11
Total Yards                          254                 271
Rushes-Yards                 32-130           40-171
Passing Yards                      124                100
Comp.-Att.-Int.              12-22-2            7-15-0
Punts-Avg.                       7-38.0            7-30.1
Fumbles-Lost                        1-1                0-0
Penalties-Yards                    9-65             11-90

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—Palestine, Josh Williams 2-64, Jeremiah Davis 14-63, Quintin Cook 5-19, Camron Spurlock 4-13, Keshawn Nonette 1-1, Christian Hutchinson 6-(-30). Jacksonville, Deshawn McCuin 5-92, T.J. Ratliffe 20-85, Aaron Richardson 4-9, Tyress Gipson 1-8, Bryson Tatum 2-(-2), Team 1-(-8), Tristen Shewmake 8-(-13).
PASSING—Palestine, Hutchinson 12-22-2—124. Jacksonville, Shewmake 7-15-0—100.
RECEIVING—Palestine, Tyler Gray 5-72, Marquis Thompson 3-39, TJ Dever 3-12, Tre Calhoun 1-1. Jacksonville, Ratliffe 3-6, Joydaysion Thompson 2-77, Chris Carpenter 2-12.

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