Drury Drubs Smith Vocational
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. -- A fourth-quarter touchdown by Smith Vocational Saturday could not diminish from the job the Drury’s defense did in a 34-6 win over the Vikings.
And to hear Drury coach Seth Shepard tell it, the 106 points allowed in Drury’s first three games did not take away from the positives he has seen in his defensive unit all season.
“You know, despite the scores, you really have to take games and go back and look at game film and see what we did wrong … But, honestly, I have been pretty happy with our defense all year, besides coverage-wise,” Shepard said. “We spent a lot of time this week on coverage.
“And I was worried because [Smith Voc] can pass the ball. They have some athletes, and they want to pass the ball. So I challenged them. Our defense has been pretty good against the run, but I really challenged the team to make sure our coverages were in check because they could beat us through the air.”
The Vikings (0-3) threw for just 28 yards.
Drury sophomore QB Obilio Rodriguez threw for 114 yards and three touchdowns, and junior Jamal Beda rushed for 74 and scored on a 37-yard pass play as the Blue Devils (1-3) won their first of the season.
Drury scored the first two times it touched the ball and ended up taking an 18-0 lead into half-time.
The home team caught a break early when a bad snap on Smith Voc’s first punt gave Drury a short field. After a holding call pushed Drury back to the Vikings’ 24, three straight running plays got the Devils into the end zone. Senior Thaylen Harrison scored the first of his two TDs from 6 yards out to make it 6-0.
Drury’s next possession went 64 yards. The big play was a third-and-12 conversion when Rodriguez hooked up with Taylor Fortini for 29 yards to get the ball to the Smith Voc 25. Three plays later, Rodriguez hit Hayden Bird deep on the right side for a 20-yard TD that made it 12-0.
Another Rodriguez-Bird connection, this one for 25 yards, set up Harrison’s 3-yard plunge midway through the second quarter to make it 18-0.
In the third quarter, Beda took a little swing pass on the right side and went 37 yards to get Drury’s fourth TD. Rodriguez hit Bird for the 2-pointer that made it 26-0.
Early in the fourth, Rodriguez put the game away with a 23-yard TD throw to Fortini. This time, sophomore J.J. Middleton ran in the conversion to put Drury up 34-0.
The highlight for Smith Voc came on its ensuing possession, when it marched 76 yards to get on the board with just less than six minutes left to play.
The lowlight for Drury came almost every time an official threw his flag. The Blue Devils were whistled seven times for 77 yards in penalties.
“I wasn’t happy with penalties today,” Shepard said. “A couple of them were tough calls, bang-bang plays. But we’ve got to be more disciplined than that. We have a huge game next week against Lee, and we can’t have penalties like that.”
Drury on Friday night plays its Intercounty West league opener at the Wildcats (2-2, 1-0).