Jackson's breakout performance leads Criminals past Sidewinders

Interceptions are usually a bad statistic for a quarterback to have, but that wasn't the case for Donte Jackson.

The Yuma High quarterback picked off three passes while on defense and threw for two touchdowns during the Criminals win over the Sidewinders 61-0, Friday at Doan Field.

"(Jackson's) break on the ball is pretty spectacular he’s got really good ball instincts," Yuma High coach Tom Fox said. "It doesn’t matter where we put him, he’s generally going to come through for us."

The Criminals (5-4, 3-1 5A Gila Valley Region) forced San Luis quarterback David Contreras to throw seven interceptions, with David Chavoya recording three and Andrew Herrarte picking off one. Chavoya also recovered a fumble on San Luis' 7-yard line which he returned for a touchdown.

(Contreras) just lofted it up in there," Jackson said. "It’s pretty exciting, it’s the first time I ever picked off three."

Yuma High's JC Baker set the momentum on the first play of the game. Baker returned the opening kickoff 85 yards, untouched, into the end zone. The Criminals' defense then forced San Luis to go three-and-out and Jackson, on the first offensive play, threw a 45-yard pass to Baker for another score.

Baker finished the game with 192 total yards and three touchdowns.

The Sidewinders (0-8, 0-3 GVR) responded on the ensuing drive, trailing 14-0, with a 12-play 58-yard drive, taking advantage of a Criminals' defense which had dropped the safeties and placed nine men in the box. San Luis converted two third downs before Contreras' 13-yard pass to Hugo Becerra was 3 yards short of the first-down marker.

On fourth-and-three at the Criminals' 20-yard line, Contreras' interception to Chavoya ended the drive. After the Sidewinders' drive, Fox opted to play a more traditional defense with Chavoya and Jackson playing deep.

"We dropped the safeties because we were having so much trouble stopping the run," Fox said. "They seemed to be working the ball downfield a little bit that’s why we switched it up, changed our coverage and dropped someone back there a little bit."

The Criminals' offense had no trouble producing. The only stop the Sidewinders' recorded was in the fourth quarter after James Gomez' run on fourth-and-six fell inches short of the first-down marker. San Luis gave up 415 yards and nine touchdowns. Yuma High didn't face a third down until the fourth quarter.

"We didn't tackle," San Luis coach Fernando Solano said. "It seemed like we were playing two-hand touch out there."