Republished from the Columbia Missourian

COLUMBIA — The Rock Bridge Bruins looked to kick-start their running game against the Fort Zumwalt West Jaguars on Friday. Little did they know that it would come by way of their 400-pound defensive tackle, T.J. Smith.

Fort Zumwalt ran a quarterback lead play, but Rock Bridge’s defense had them wrapped up, coach Donnell Jones said. “T.J. went in and just took the ball from the guy — a big 400-pound guy tumbling down the field for another 40 yards,” he said.

The Bruins then finished off the drive to record their first touchdown.

And despite the remnants of Hurricane Isaac passing through the Midwest, the Bruins went on to defeat the Jaguars 27-9.

On the other side of the ball, Rock Bridge senior tailback Freeman Simmons ran for more than 100 yards after failing to find any holes in the Bruins’ season opener last week against De Smet.

“If you can run the ball in the game of football, you’re gonna have success,” Jones said. “It opens up play action. It helps keep your defense off the field. It drains the clock and kind of demoralizes the other team. We had a few big plays in the running game and other than that we kept grinding for 2 here, 3 here, 5 here.”

The win also continued sophomore Logan Twehous’ spotless record in his debut season as the starting quarterback.

“It’s huge,” Jones said. “Confidence building. We’re young at the quarterback position, so every good thing that happens for him is great.”

The Bruins (2-0) return home next week to take on Arkansas Har-Ber High School in an interstate matchup.

“We look forward to playing against the state of Arkansas next week and representing the state of Missouri,” Jones said.

Original: http://www.columbiamissourian.com/a/152852/rock-bridge-bruins-win-27-9-against-fort-zumwalt-west/ (with paywall)