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Jayton Mercy Rules Oakwood to Win State Title

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The Jayton Jaybirds and Oakland Panthers met up for the 2024 UIL 1A Six-Man Division II state championship on Wednesday, December 18th.

For Jayton, an appearance in the championship game, the fifth in program history, was expected. The Jaybirds were one of the favorites in 1A DII all year, and they came into the championship with a 14-0 record, having outscored their opponents by over 50 points per game.

For the Panthers, it was a different story. Oakland was coming off a 5-4 2023 season and started their season 2-3. From there, they improved each week, culminating in a 54-40 win over Iredell to reach the second title game in school history. 

On the opening drive, Oakland struggled to gain any momentum and was forced to punt on 4th down. In six-man football, punts are unusual as most teams elect to go for it on 4th down regardless of field position. The punt was blocked, and Jayton took over at the Oakwood 9-yard line.

Two plays later, Bode Ham ran to the goal line but fumbled; however, his teammate recovered the ball in the end zone for the game’s opening touchdown. The Jaybirds defense continued to dominate on the next Oakwood drive, putting significant pressure on QB Dayden Velasquez. However, the Panthers managed a long pass inside the 2-yard line. But the Jaybirds defense stood strong, causing a fumble, which Colt Gentry recovered and returned for a 73-yard touchdown.

Oakwood moved the ball a bit on their third drive, but once again the Jayton defense came up big and forced a turnover on downs. Then, with 0:42 left in the first quarter, the Jaybirds took a 22-0 lead on a Cole Gentry receiving touchdown, Gentry’s third touchdown in the first quarter.

Second Quarter

Jayton stopped Oakwood again to start the second quarter. With 6:37 left in the first half, Bode Ham scored on a 2-yard touchdown pass from Sean Stanaland, putting Jayton up 30-0.

Six-man football has a “Mercy Rule,” which ends the game if a team leads by 45 points or more at any point from halftime onward. This meant Oakwood needed to keep the halftime spread under 45 points for the game to continue.

Less than two minutes later, Bode Ham scored again on a touchdown run, pushing the Jaybirds’ lead to 38-0. With the mercy rule looming, the Oakwood Panthers offense fought back, scoring on a Dayden Velasquez pass to Brady Harrison to cut the lead to 38-8. 

However, the 30-point spread did not last long. On 3rd and 12 with 3:05 left in the first half, Stanaland scored to push the lead to 46-8. On the next Oakwood drive, Jayton forced another stop on downs to get the ball back with 2:38 left in the half, needing a touchdown to activate the mercy rule.

With 0:58 left in the first half, Jayton scored on a 15-yard touchdown run by Stanaland to take a 54-8 lead. 

Oakwood needed a score to keep the mercy rule from taking effect. But once again, the Jayton defense stood strong and stopped Oakwood. At 54-8, the mercy rule kicked in at halftime, and the Jayton Jaybirds won the 1A DII State Championship.

This championship is the third in Jayton’s school history and their first since 1985.

Colt Gentry was named the Defensive MVP, and Sean Stanaland was named the Offensive MVP.


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