O’FALLON — The Ft. Zumwalt West offense jumped out to a fast start and led the Jaguars to a 21-7 win over Troy-Buchanan High School Friday night.

The Jaguar (4-3) offense set the tone quickly, scoring just 22 seconds into the game.

Jaguar quarterback Clayton O’Bryan and wide receiver Garrick Dixon connected for a 59-yard touchdown strike down the middle of the field, giving the Jaguars a 7-0 lead.

The Trojan (5-2) offense struggled to sustain drives in the first half. Only one of five first half possessions ended up moving into Jaguar territory.

Unfortunately for the Trojans, that drive ended with a turnover on downs at the Jaguars 31-yard line after an incomplete pass by quarterback Carter Shafer.

Troy Captains (from left) carter Dowel, Aiden Dunn, Noah Vollmer and Marco Herrera walk to midfield with coach Brett Wiggers. (Photo by Landon Kimble)

Shafer finished the game with six completions on 15 attempts for 72 yards, and one touchdown pass.

The Troy special teams unit provided a spark in the first half. Shafer booted a fantastic 49-yard punt, pinning the Jaguars at their own 2-yard line.

Moments later the Troy defense had the Jaguars in a critical third and two at their own 10-yard line. O’Bryan again came up big, completing a 17-yard pass completion to keep the drive moving.

The drive ended with a punt, but not before the field position was shifted in the Jaguars favor.

A Ft. Zumwalt West defender tries to pull down Kyle Eisenbath after a reception. (Photo by Landon Kimble)

“Ft. Zumwalt uses a lot of shots and posts over the top in games, and we made that a big point of emphasis for our defense,” head coach Brett Wiggers said. “They hit a lot of comebacks and routes right at the sticks tonight to convert third downs.”

The Jaguar passing game continued moving the ball efficiently in the second quarter.

The Jaguars extended their lead to 14-0 with 8:03 left before halfttime with a 69-yard scoring drive. O’Bryan hit wide receiver Jayden Joyce in the corner of the endzone for the final 14 yards.

O’Bryan had a successful night throwing the ball, ending up with 20 pass completions on 29 attempts for 202 yards and two touchdown passes.

The Trojans went to the locker room trailing 14-0.

“During halftime we discussed the importance of getting pressure on their quarterback,” head coach Brett Wiggers said. “We also talked about creating space for our offense. We wanted to use motion and get the ball to the perimeter, and we had a little bit of success, but we didn’t execute efficiently enough to get it done tonight.”

The visiting crowd from Troy saw a repeat of the Jaguars ability to use the passing game to keep drives alive and march the ball down the field in the second half.

The Jaguars converted a fourth and seven from the Trojans 29-yard line and then three plays later, senior running back Holden Hayes scored on an 18-yard touchdown run, making the score 21-0 with 5:39 remaining in the third quarter.

“We got them consistently to third and fourth downs tonight, but we’ve got to do a better job of protecting the sticks and getting them off the field on those downs,” Wiggers said.

Talan Rowland led the Trojan defense with four solo tackles and 9 assisted tackles. Brody Berryman and Eli Conley each had four solo tackles and seven assisted tackles, and Cameron Lucash had three solo tackles and five assisted tackles.

Aidan Baker signals an incomplete pass against Ft. Zumwalt West. (Photo by Landon Kimble)

The Trojans showed signs of life on their next drive beginning at the 20-yard line. Dowell ripped off a 23-yard run and then Schafer completed a pass with an additional 15 yards tacked on for a face mask call against Ft. Zumwalt West.

That led to the Trojans first score of the evening when Shafer completed a pinpoint pass to Dowell in the back corner of the endzone from the 5-yard line. With 6:22 left in the game the score was 21-7.

Dowell finished the night with 25 rushing attempts for 132 yards and 2 pass receptions for 35 yards.

The Trojans special teams executed a perfect onside kick, recovering the ball at the 50-yard line. The momentum was on Troy Buchanan’s side, and they moved the ball to the Jaguars 44-yard line on their first play.

Troy Buchanan ended up fumbling the ball on the next play, and the momentum was gone along with any hope of a comeback on this Friday evening.

“They got the best of us up front tonight,” Wiggers said. “We are going to continue pushing and we are going to get better. This is a team we could see again in district play, so we need to be ready when that time comes.”

The Trojans have two games remaining on the schedule and they are looking to build momentum as district play approaches in November.

“We’ll take a deep dive into the film this week and clean up the mistakes we made. We want to create momentum here at the end of the season. We will be playing our best ball in November,” Wiggers said.

The Trojans will play Francis Howell North at home on Oct. 17 with kickoff at 7 p.m.