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Donelson Christian beats Mt. Juliet Christian, remains perfect




Mt. Juliet Christian’s Jamarion Thomas returns a kickoff during the first half of Friday's game at Donelson Christian. MICHAEL CLINGER

Mt. Juliet Christian’s Jamarion Thomas returns a kickoff during the first half of Friday’s game at Donelson Christian. MICHAEL CLINGER

DONELSON—Two years after finishing the regular season winless, the 2020 Donelson Christian Academy Wildcats finished their regular season with a 48-7 win over the Mt. Juliet Christian Academy Saints to cap off a perfect regular season.

“Two years ago, I stood here, and we were 0-10, and there was nobody here to interview me… It feels really good,” said Donelson Christian coach Paul Wade. “I’m really happy for the kids. They’ve done a great job… I can’t say enough about our team and how well we played tonight. We didn’t have a lot of miscues that we had in some of the games that have been like this so I’m really excited. I’m excited for our seniors. We only have five, but to go out 10-0 on this field and to have home-field advantage feels pretty good.”

For running back Donelson Christian (10-0, 7-0) Jon Lewis, the turnaround from a winless season to an undefeated regular season was a result of hard work and buying into Wade’s system and way of coaching.

Donelson Christian running back Jon Lewis is tackled by Mt. Juliet Christian’s Drake Staggs during the first half of last Friday night's 48-7 DCA victory. MICHAEL CLINGER

Donelson Christian running back Jon Lewis is tackled by Mt. Juliet Christian’s Drake Staggs during the first half of last Friday night’s 48-7 DCA victory. MICHAEL CLINGER

“It’s all hard work and preparation,” Lewis said. “With Coach Wade, going by his mottos like ‘one heart,’ we try to stay as one. We’ve just tried to stay together and keep the same mindset.”

Mt. Juliet Christian (1-9, 1-6) took the opening possession kickoff but was unable to get anything started early as the Saints went three and out and lost 9 yards in the process.

It didn’t take long for the Wildcats to get going as Lewis scored a 40-yard touchdown on the first play from scrimmage to put DCA up 7-0.

Following another Mt. Juliet Christian three and out, a 14-yard pass from Bradford Gaines to Lewis set up a 4-yard Lewis touchdown rush, his second of the game, to give Donelson Christian a 14-0 advantage halfway through the opening quarter.

After a Riley Stanton sack forced another Mt. Juliet Christian punt, Lewis took a handoff 50 yards to the end zone for his third touchdown of the quarter. A botched fake point-after try kept the DCA lead to 20-0 with 1:43 left in the first.

Donelson Christian’s Jon Lewis carries the ball for a touchdown during the first quarter of the Wildcats’ 48-7 win over Mt. Juliet Christian. MICHAEL CLINGER

Donelson Christian’s Jon Lewis carries the ball for a touchdown during the first quarter of the Wildcats’ 48-7 win over Mt. Juliet Christian. MICHAEL CLINGER

The Saints converted their first first down of the game on a fourth-and-3 situation when Jamarion Thomas found Kam Curtis on an 8-yard completion. But Mt. Juliet Christian was forced to punt soon after.

On the next Donelson Christian play from scrimmage, Gaines threw his first of two touchdown passes on the night. This one went to Stanton from 41 yards out to put the Wildcats up 27-0 early in the second.

Donelson Christian took advantage of another Mt. Juliet Christian three and out when Gaines threw a 35-yard touchdown pass to Dayton Sneed to give the Wildcats a 34-0 advantage at halftime.

Donelson Christian scored on its first possession of the second half via Lewis’ fourth touchdown rush of the night from 15 yards out. It gave the Wildcats a 41-0 lead and a running second-half clock.

The Wildcats scored once more on a 35-yard touchdown rush from Brady Russell to give the Wildcats a 48-0 lead.

The Saints, however, avoided the shutout on their final offensive possession of the season. Thomas took a pitch from quarterback Noah Kleinman and hurled it 43 yards to Curtis. The play was the longest from scrimmage for the Saints and set up Mt. Juliet Christian inside the Wildcats’ 11, where Alex Keasler did the rest by scoring on a 3-yard touchdown rush 48-7 with 4:09 left in the game.

Mt. Juliet Christian’s Andrew Burgess fair catches a short Donelson Christian kickoff during last Friday night's game. MICHAEL CLINGER

Mt. Juliet Christian’s Andrew Burgess fair catches a short Donelson Christian kickoff during last Friday night’s game. MICHAEL CLINGER

The Wildcats milked the rest of the clock out to officially finish the regular season undefeated for the first time since 2004.

For Mt. Juliet Christian, its season came to a conclusion, and despite a 1-9 record, coach Dan Davis believes this season that was filled with adversity could serve as a valuable lesson for his players for life beyond the football field.

“If you look at our 10 games, we were competitive in eight of the 10,” Davis said. “We lost a couple by less than a touchdown, so a lack of numbers and a lot of injuries hurt. The kids fought hard, and tonight, even in the loss, you saw they fought for each other, and in that regard, they got up off the mat and kept fighting. In life, that’s what you have to do. Nashville experienced a tornado on March 3, and Nashville got off the ground. We’ve had COVID. We got off the ground. That’s part of life. What we want to do in life is just get better and to take adversity and turn it into our benefit. That’s what our kids have done, and that’s what we’ll continue to do. Everybody wants to have a right-away answer, but some things you have to grind out to get what you want, and that’s how life really works. I’m proud of my guys for staying with it, being positive, taking adversity by the horns and benefiting from it.”

Mt. Juliet Christian’s Rowan Cordell is tackled by Donelson Christian’s Gunner Schierling and Jon Lewis in the first half of the game at DCA. MICHAEL CLINGER

Mt. Juliet Christian’s Rowan Cordell is tackled by Donelson Christian’s Gunner Schierling and Jon Lewis in the first half of the game at DCA. MICHAEL CLINGER

Davis was optimistic for the future of the Mt. Juliet Christian program and was especially complimentary of Thomas, who was a wide receiver who was forced to play quarterback after an injury to regular starter Christian Link knocked him out of the season.

“The kids have played hard, and they’ve played for each other, and you look at someone like Jamarion Thomas who, although he didn’t have a great night, he still made some plays that show he should make semifinals for Mr. Football or at least All-State. He’s that kind of player, and I think he showed that tonight. We have keys to build on and a junior class that’s hungry, and they want football. I’m sure they’re ready to work.”

Donelson Christian’s Jon Lewis is congratulated after scoring another touchdown during DCA's 48-7 win over Mt. Juliet Christian. MICHAEL CLINGER

Donelson Christian’s Jon Lewis is congratulated after scoring another touchdown during DCA’s 48-7 win over Mt. Juliet Christian. MICHAEL CLINGER

For Donelson Christian, the Wildcats will have a first-round bye since they won the region title and will have home-field advantage throughout the playoffs with the possible exception of the state championship.

“Usually the teams we’ll play [in the playoffs] are more physical teams and are teams that can run the ball and defend the run,” Wade said as his team looks forward to playoff action. “Those are things we’ll have to be god at. I think we’re good at it at times, and other times we’ve struggled. The 10-0 record sometimes is misleading because you have to understand the significance of what’s going on in the game, but we’re going to have to be able to run the ball and defend the run.”

Donelson Christian’s Brady Russell tackles Mt. Juliet Christian’s Kameron Curtis in the second quarter of last Friday's game. MICHAEL CLINGER

Donelson Christian’s Brady Russell tackles Mt. Juliet Christian’s Kameron Curtis in the second quarter of last Friday’s game. MICHAEL CLINGER

BOX SCORE

Donelson Christian 48, Mt. Juliet Christian 7

TEAM STATISTICS

RUSHING YARDS—Mt. Juliet Christian (-24), Donelson Christian 301.

PASSING YARDS—Mt. Juliet Christian 77, Donelson Christian 128.

TOTAL YARDS—Mt. Juliet Christian 53, Donelson Christian 429.

PENALTIES—Mt. Juliet Christian 4, Donelson Christian 8.

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING—Mt. Juliet Christian, Alex Keasler 2-10, Rowen Cordell 6-13, Kam Curtis 1-3, Noah Kleinman 2-(-2), Jamarion Thomas 13-(-48). Donelson Christian, Jon Lewis 8-190, Ashton Jones 4-52, Brady Russell 2-50, Wesley Gober 3-9.

PASSING—Mt. Juliet Christian, Jamarion Thomas 5-10-69-0-0, Noah Kleinman 2-3-8-0-0. Donelson Christian, Bradford Gaines 7-13-128-2-1.

RECEIVING—Mt. Juliet Christian, Kam Curtis 3-63, Jamarion Thomas 2-8, Brendan Dunn 1-6, Rowen Cordell 1-0. Donelson Christian, Riley Stanton 3-71, Dayton Sneed 2-48, Jon Lewis 2-9.

Mt. Juliet Christian’s Jamarion Thomas escapes the pocket during the second quarter of last Friday's game at Donelson Christian. MICHAEL CLINGER

Mt. Juliet Christian’s Jamarion Thomas escapes the pocket during the second quarter of last Friday’s game at Donelson Christian. MICHAEL CLINGER

INTERCEPTIONS—Mt. Juliet Christian, Jordan Willis.

Donelson Christian’s Dayton Sneed turns a short completion into a touchdown before halftime of the Wildcats’ 48-7 victory over Mt. Juliet Christian. MICHAEL CLINGER

Donelson Christian’s Dayton Sneed turns a short completion into a touchdown before halftime of the Wildcats’ 48-7 victory over Mt. Juliet Christian. MICHAEL CLINGER

Mt. Juliet Christian running back Rowan Cordell hurdles a defender late in last Friday night's game against Donelson Christian. MICHAEL CLINGER

Mt. Juliet Christian running back Rowan Cordell hurdles a defender late in last Friday night’s game against Donelson Christian. MICHAEL CLINGER

Donelson Christian quarterback Bradford Gaines looks to the sideline before the snap as the Wildcats beat Mt. Juliet Christian 48-7. MICHAEL CLINGER

Donelson Christian quarterback Bradford Gaines looks to the sideline before the snap as the Wildcats beat Mt. Juliet Christian 48-7. MICHAEL CLINGER

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