Jimtown High School

Jimmies overwhelm conference rival Bremen, 36-7 By Red Williams, Free Lance Sports Writer ELKHART – A well-rounded attack spelled success Friday night (9/20/24) in high school football for Jimtown’s Jimmies. A strong-armed defense and guess-again offense were the major factors as the Jimmies won their third straight game, cutting down the visiting Bremen Lions, 36-7. Jimtown now is 3-2 overall and 2-0 in the new Northern Indiana State Conference. The Lions fall to 2-3 and 0-2. Baugo Coach Cody Vincent couldn’t say enough about his defense: “They really stepped up, and I’m proud of their improvement. We’re figuring out where we all need to be.” The entertaining game was played in a hot, muggy atmosphere with a harvest moon peaking over the eastern horizon. A good-sized crowd was on hand for the game, celebrated as Jimtown’s homecoming. The Jimmy defense held Bremen to 236 yards, forced the Lions to punt five times and intercepted two passes. “Bremen is a good team,” Vincent said, “but they were missing one of their top players (wide receiver Tyrus Graverson). I expect to see them bounce back.” There were a number of highlights for the Jimmies, topped by Javen Jackson’s 83-yard kickoff return. That came in the second period, immediately following Bremen’s only touchdown, which had closed the gap to 14-7. Suddenly the Jimmies had a two-TD advantage. Jackson caught the kick on the run to build up a head of steam, dodged three near tackles and outran the Bremen secondary on his jaunt to the goal line. “I was just happy to be out there with my brothers and help the team,” he said. Jackson figured in another highlight, hooking up with quarterback Mason Armstrong on a 54-yard scoring pass-run play. He also had an end-around run of 16 yards in the 78-yard drive. Armstrong, a senior, had an excellent game, connecting on six of 13 passes for 159 yards, one TD, with no interceptions. He also ran in two scores with scampers of 25 and 15 yards. Jackson, also a senior, figured in another highlight, too. Bremen QB Silas Laidig connected with tight end Noah Wildauer on a 62-yard pass play, but Jackson cut him down at the 18 to avoid a TD, the Jimmy defense stiffened and forced the Lions to turn over the ball on downs. Armstrong also set up the final TD for Jimtown when he intercepted a Laidig pass and returned the ball 24 yards to the Bremen 34. Five plays later he ran a bootleg around right end for the score. The Jimmies will be at home again next Friday to battle new conference rival Tippecanoe Valley. SCORING Score by Quarters Team 1 2 3 4 OT Final Bremen 0 7 0 0 7 Jimtown 7 14 8 7 36 Scoring Plays J: Owen Glass 2 run (Brayden Fox kick) J: Javen Jackson 54 pass-run from Mason Armstrong (Fox kick) B: Austin Young 2 run (Jack Wildauer kick) J: Jackson 83 kickoff return (Fox kick) J: Armstrong 25 run (Xander Hummel run) J: Armstrong 15 run (Fox kick) Officials: Mike Burke (ref), Roger Griffith (ump), Phil Tuskey (head linesman), Mark McCammon (line judge), John Walma (back judge); all with the St. Joseph Valley Officiating Association STATISTICS Teams Bremen Jimtown First downs 9 18 Rushing Yardage 119 197 (attempts/average) 24-9/4.1 42/4.7 Passing Yardage 117 159 (completions/attempts/intercp)7-16-2 6-13-0 Punts/Average 5/45.6 2/18 Fumbles Made/Lost 1/0 2/1 Penalties/Yardage 8/70 9/55