Jancek adjusts to receiving end, Irish roll past West Greene
KNOXVILLE — Throughout much of his football career at Knoxville Catholic High School, senior Jack Jancek has run or thrown for touchdowns.
But a mid-season move to wide receiver now has him catching scoring strikes from sophomore transfer Kaden Martin.
“It’s a touchdown. It’s a score and that’s what counts,” Jancek said after the Irish routed West Greene 49-7 Friday night, Oct. 11, in KCHS’s Blaine Stadium. “It’s a score, it counts and this all feels great.”
Jancek caught a pair of touchdown passes against the Buffaloes (4-3) in the first half before he, Martin and the rest of the Irish starters retired to the sidelines midway through the second quarter.
Catholic (5-2), which has now won three consecutive games, scored early and often against West Greene. Martin, who went 6-for-10 for 179 yards and two touchdowns, connected with Jancek on a 51-yard scoring strike to give KCHS a 21-0 lead in the first quarter.
The duo hooked up again for a 23-yarder early in the second quarter to make it 42-0. And those were only a few of the fireworks for the Irish, who scored on their first four possessions and put 35 points on the scoreboard in the opening 12 minutes.
Keondre’ Jarmon rumbled into the end zone from 1 yard out for the first Catholic touchdown. Kicker Paxton Robertson converted several extra points.
“We had some things that you may not have seen that we need to improve on, that we need to get better at,” KCHS head coach Steve Matthews said.
Martin had a 20-yard touchdown run that gave Catholic a 14-0 lead.
The Irish defense also joined the scoring parade when Cody Duncan, a senior linebacker, intercepted a pass and returned it 28 yards for a TD. “It feels great to finally get that interception, and I’m glad I could take it to the house, too,” Duncan, team leader in tackles, said. “I’m pretty happy.”
Jarmon culminated the opening frame with a 76-yard scoring scamper. Martin’s second touchdown toss made it 42-0 early in the second stanza before freshman Samuel O’Leary scored KCHS’s final touchdown on an 18-yard run late in the second stanza.
