It was a tale of two halves for the Pleasantville Trojans as they traveled to Lynnville-Sully for a date with the Hawks. In the end, Pleasantville prevailed with a second half of epic proportions resulting in a 56-29 victory. They are now 2-0 on the year.
Head coach Mack Jorth’s squad came out slow and sluggish. A muffed punt by Ben Wicks led to the opening score of the game for L-S. With an 8-0 lead and approaching the end zone, Hawks quarterback Conner Maston threw an interception to Wicks, making up for his special teams gaffe. The Trojans’ ensuing possession went 85 yards, capped off by running back Jake DeJoode’s 12 yard score to make it 8-7. The teams went into the break with that score.
Enter the second half, and Lynnville-Sully seemed to be in control of the contest, but it didn’t take long for that to change. DeJoode scored a 61 yard touchdown on the first play of the half. The momentum then started to shift in the Trojan’s favor. Any hopes for the Hawks were crushed after Matson threw another interception, with Colby Sandholdt taking it all the way back for a pick six. Less than 2 minutes into the 3rd quarter, the Trojans went from trailing 8-7, to leading 21-7.
It only got worse for Hawks. The ensuing kickoff was fumbled and recovered by Pleasantville. DeJoode completed his hat trick with his third and final touchdown of the game, and it somehow still got worse for the home team. Trojan quarterback Caylor Clark added a 14 yard touchdown with his legs. This was followed by yet another pick six by Sandholdt. In total, Pleasantville scored six touchdowns in the third quarter, seven in the second half, and eight in the game.
Head coach Mack Jorth was just as stunned as many were in the crowd with the turnaround his team made. He credits his entire staff for making the proper adjustments to get the team going.
“Once we finally just relaxed, settled in, and got a couple plays to go our way, it wasn’t anything special or different. There was a couple things we did different that third quarter, but when you get turnovers, that’ll do it for you. When you have two pick sixes by the same guy, which is crazy, what a great effort by Colby [Sandholdt] there at cornerback, but you get some turnovers, you get some fumbles. Our defense had to readjust because we were trying to shut down their [running game]. We did a very good job offensively of counter-attacking where we were a little weaker by shutting them down. We then had to try to readjust. It’s just that chess match that makes football so much fun.”
Pleasantville has their home opener and Senior Night next Friday as they host Mount Ayr. Hear select Trojan football games this year on the KNIA/KRLS family of networks.