Charles Salzer
Contributing Writer

Fourth-ranked Capitol rode a huge game from running back Frankie Jackson, and a 20-point third quarter to a first-round playoff win Friday night.

Jackson, who ran for 226 yards, scored three touchdowns and also ran in a two-point conversion leading the Lions to a 34-8 Class 2A win over the Northlake Christian School Wolverines.

TYLER CLARK

Capitol picked up 196 yards rushing on 30 carries and gained another 119 yards through the air hitting on 7-of-10 passes. The Lions collected 15 first downs.

NCS rushed for 148 yards on 43 attempts, but was limited to 20 yards passing, hitting on 1-of-5 attempts with an interception.

Jackson had two of his scores in the first half helping Capitol (10-1) to a 14-0 lead at the break. He scored again early in the third as the Lions erupted for 20 points to put the game away.

With the win, Capitol advances to second-round play where it will face the Newman-DeQuincy winner.

“I could have played better,” Jackson said. “Coach gave me the ball, and I tried to make everything work. I tried to work on my basic technique, make the first man miss and take it to the house.”

It was a technique that worked well enough in the first half for Jackson to rush for 201 yards including scoring runs of 48 and 58 yards.

Northlake Christian (6-5), which qualified for the playoffs out of District 8-2A after going 1-8 a year ago, kept things close in the first half. Trailing 6-0 early in the second quarter, the Wolverines, which moved up to Class 2A this season, recovered a Capitol fumble at midfield.

Derek Williams, who led NCS with 79 yards rushing, carried five times for 18 yards. But it was a 20-yard completion from quarterback Tim Broussard to Shawn Burst on 4th-and-1 from the CA 30 that sparked the drive.

From there, the Wolverines ran three times bringing up a 4th-and-goal at the 1. But Broussard was stuffed on a sneak thanks to a strong Capitol line push led by Kedric Parker.

“That was one of the things we’ve worked on a lot for the playoffs,” Capitol coach Chadwick Germany said of the Lions goal line defense. “It was a good thing for the guys as far as a confidence builder.”

After the stand, Capitol went 98 yards in eight plays to move ahead 14-0. A holding penalty nearly stalled the drive at midfield before Capitol converted a key fourth down of its own.

On fourth and inches at the CA 41, Jackson took a pitch around right end and tightroped the sideline for a 59-yard score.

“I thought we were playing them even,” Northlake coach Tony Agresta said. “But when we didn’t get in and they ended up taking it down and scoring, I thought that was the turning point.”

Capitol turned to the arm of Terrance Broadway in the third quarter, and he completed 3-of-4 passes for 71 yards and a touchdown.

“I think if we had scored and took the lead then Capitol might have had to play a little closer to the vest,” Agresta said.

Instead, Broadway directed the Lions to touchdowns on all three of their third-quarter possessions to build a 34-0 lead. Broadway, who finished the game 7-of-9 for 119 yards, sat out the fourth quarter.

“We wanted to come out and run the ball,” Germany said. “We wanted to grind it out and wear them down a little bit, and then come back in the second half and throw it around some. That was part of the game plan.”

NCS’ lone touchdown came on Tyler Clark’s nine-yard run with just over a minute left. Clark connected with Michael Peck on a two-point conversion to make it 34-8.