Peasrick Throws Two Touchdowns as Houston Beats Jacksonville
Riley Kade — JRSports One
Nick Peasrick threw two touchdown passes as Houston Apollos beat Jacksonville Juice 27-9. Houston never trailed, and the win moved the Apollos to 4-4 while Jacksonville fell to 3-4.
Houston took control early. Peasrick hit Bruno Rus for a 2-yard touchdown with 8:13 left in the first quarter, and the Apollos led 7-0 from there. Owen Foortwood had earlier carried for 21 yards to the Jacksonville 13, and Houston's lead grew to 21 points late in the third quarter, the largest of the game, at 7:11.
Jacksonville answered with a 23-yard field goal by Angus Waurke at 3:13 of the first quarter, cutting the margin to 7-3. Peasrick then found Ben Bluman for a 9-yard touchdown at 13:11 of the second quarter, and Owen Lonn's 31-yard field goal at 5:42 made it 17-3. Jacksonville's fourth-and-1 pass from the Houston 33 fell incomplete at 2:56 of the second quarter, and the Juice did not score again until the third.
Hunter Towsings ran 22 yards for a touchdown at 7:15 of the third quarter, pushing Houston ahead 24-3. Waurke kicked a 19-yard field goal at 1:19 to make it 24-6. Lonn added a 20-yard field goal at 10:40 of the fourth quarter, and Waurke's 22-yard field goal at 4:10 closed the scoring at 27-9. Jacksonville's only turnover came at 12:32 of the first quarter, when Connor Stollson fumbled and Daiki Kang recovered. Houston did not turn the ball over.
Peasrick completed 22 of 31 passes for 231 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. Foortwood carried 20 times for 135 yards and caught seven passes for 123 more. Jesse Geatham led the Houston defense with seven tackles and a sack, and Riku Chonyama added six tackles and a forced fumble. For Jacksonville, Jake Stoor completed 14 of 21 passes for 117 yards, and Stollson ran 16 times for 114 yards. Brock Doock caught nine passes for 86 yards and ran for 62 more, while Jordan Bram made nine tackles. Houston finished with 424 total yards to 369 for Jacksonville and converted 8 of 12 third downs against 3 of 9.
Octavio Per, Houston's right end, left with hamstring tightness at 10:19 of the third quarter and was listed as questionable to return; Adam Vaitsby replaced him. Peyton Lendwood, Houston's left outside linebacker, was questionable with an ankle injury. Seth Voostwell (hamstring strain) and Adam Craildale (shoulder sprain) of Houston are out, and Tama Weat (torn meniscus) of Jacksonville is out. Dalton Whai, Jacksonville's quarterback, is on injured reserve with a torn ACL.
Houston improved to 4-4 with the win, while Jacksonville dropped to 3-4.
