Moe catches three touchdowns to pace Indians to 3-0 start.
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Fort White receivers Tafari Moe (7) and Najeeb Smith celebrate after Moe's third touchdown reception Monday night at Jefferson County. (MORGAN MCMULLEN/Lake City Reporter)
MONTICELLO — There were two instances where the Fort White offense failed to score Monday night.
The first came in the middle of the second quarter when a Jayden Jackson scramble came up a few yards short on fourth down.
That was promptly made up for with a Fort White fumble recovery on the next snap.
The other instance was when the JV team ended the game with the help of a running clock.
For the second week in a row, all facets of the Indians’ game worked to perfection in a 42-8 blowout over Jefferson County. The game was originally supposed to be played in Week 2 but was postponed due to Hurricane Idalia.
Head coach Demetric Jackson said he was happy his guys took care of business.
“We were pretty dominant,” Jackson said. “We came out lackluster, but we were able to come ahead with nobody hurt.”
It didn’t take long for the offense to get going. Tafari Moe caught the opening score of the ballgame on the Indians’ first drive, capping it with a 14-yard reception. It wouldn’t be his last, as Jefferson County spent much of the game keying in on fellow receiver Najeeb Smith and running back Dakota Fisher. That allowed Moe to haul in three catches for 54 yards and three scores.
Following a defensive stop, Smith returned a Tigers punt about 50 yards down to the JCHS 15 where, on the next offensive snap, Fisher rumbled around left end and evaded tacklers down the sideline to push the lead to 14-0 in the first quarter. Fisher was no slouch either, taking nine carries for 96 yards along with that touchdown.
Moe probably didn’t have to work as hard for his second touchdown on the ensuing drive. Facing a 3rd-and-16, Moe took off from his slot position straight up the seam. With defensive coverage rolling further outside, Moe was able to catch the ball and stride into the end zone untouched to end the first quarter.
Moe’s best catch came after a Bryson Major fumble recovery after Jayden Jackson couldn’t pick up the first down with his legs. Rolling to his left, Jackson found Moe near the back corner of the end zone with the junior receiver making a diving catch to cap his first ever three-touchdown game. Jackson finished 5-of-12 passing for 86 yards and four touchdowns while also picking up 56 more yards on six carries.
“It feels good,” Moe said of his performance. “I go hard in practice, so I expected it to pay off eventually.”
Along with Moe’s offensive performance, his defensive skills were also on display. The receiver-turned-corner, Demetric Jackson said, has usually been lined up against the opposing teams’ top wideouts. That paid off for Fort White (3-0) as Moe ended the Tigers’ first drive of the second half with a leaping interception along the near sideline after Jefferson County (0-3) had entered into FWHS territory.
“I saw some great play from him,” Demetric Jackson said of Moe. “He can really be a guy that you’ve got to find out where he’s at.
“He’s playing the whole game. Coming out and finding, playing their best receiver and getting interceptions, it’s great for him.
Moe’s athletic pick followed an equally impressive interception from Smith, who came up from his safety position to pick off JCHS quarterback Nkansa Langhorne on a deep ball to the Fort White goal line, taking the return all the way to the Tigers’ 35. Smith then rattled off a pair of big gains on the ground before Jayden Jackson finished off the drive with a read option around right tackle to go into the halftime break up 35-0.
After Moe’s interception to start the third, the Indians cruised, with the starters remaining in for one more series that ended with a 17-yard catch from tight end Kiernen Sheehan for his first score of the season in the back of the end zone. The Tigers finally managed to get on the board with a 47-yard catch and run from receiver Xavier Miller against the JV defense with about six minutes left on a running clock.
With another seemingly winnable game in front of them, Demetric Jackson said the right mindset would be the key to moving forward.
“We worry about ourselves,” Jackson said. “Focus on making sure we do the little things… There’s some little things that you can kind of get away with against inferior teams, but when you play good teams, we’ve got to shore those things up.”
UP NEXT
The Indians return for their home opener Friday at 7:30 p.m. against Hamilton County (1-1).