Bob Jones outlasts Hazel Green in the rain
Christian Hess makes play for Bob Jones on Hazel Green’s Lewis Hall
(CONTRIBUTED/CINDY HESS)
MADISON- Backup quarterback Jeremy Frye sparked the offense with two touchdown passes and Bob Jones scored two defensive touchdowns late to put away Hazel Green 34-14. The win puts Bob Jones in first place in Region 8 standings at 3-0, 4-0 overall.
Bob Jones had good field position throughout the first half but could not take advantage of it. On the Patriots first possession, quarterback Tyler Whalen overthrew a receiver and was intercepted by Nicholas Moreno on a drive that started deep in Hazel Green territory.
It is the third game in a row that Whalen has thrown an interception. The offense also got charged with two holding penalties, one wiped out a touchdown run.
Whalen completed 5 of 12 passes for 58 yards and gave way to Jeremy Frye in the second half.
Bob Jones coach Kevin Rose has been getting Frye more playing time as the offense continues to struggle. The offense scored only 13 points last week against Florence.
“We are making some bad calls in situations when we have two plays called and we don’t get into a good play,” Rose said. “We struggled at the quarterback position (tonight) and when you get into 6A football and the playoffs the difference in two equally matched teams will come down to quarterback play. We have two guys who have never played at the varsity level but they are good players and by week 10 we’re going to have two good quarterbacks.”
Fortunately for Rose the Patriot defense continues to live up to preseason billing allowing only seven points for two straight weeks.
Late first quarter Bob Jones took over at midfield after a short punt by Hazel Green and stayed on the ground. Jay Rogers scored a touchdown from 10-yards out.
Hazel Green quickly tied the game when quarterback Cole Guffey hit Deondre McClain with a short pass and he broke a tackle by Tyler Brutofsky and raced 60 yards for a touchdown.
Bob Jones squandered several scoring opportunities in the second quarter. One drive started on the Patriots 43-yard line but ended when Whalen was sacked on fourth and five. Another drive ended at Hazel Green’s 39-yard line.
Another drive started at the Hazel Green 26-yard line after a 15-yard punt return by Ryan Crooks. With Jeremy Frye at quarterback the Patriots needed only two plays to score. Frye passed to Roderick Randolph on second and goal for a nine yard touchdown.
Punter Mike Bernier kept Hazel Green bottled up with two punts inside the 10-yard line in the second quarter.
As the rain began to fall, Bob Jones extended their lead to 21-7 early in the third quarter when Frye hit Jonathan Rice on a 16-yard touchdown pass.
Jay Rogers scores Bob Jones first touchdown
(CONTRIBUED/CINDY HESS)
Bob Jones defense and penalties kept Hazel Green’s offense in long yardage situations all game. David Norris sacked quarterback Cole Guffey for a19 yard loss. Julian Lewis stuffed a third and one to end another drive.
“We’re playing at a level defensively that if we keep growing we can be really good. But offensively we‘ve got to help them and we didn’t tonight,” Rose said.
The defense stepped up big in the fourth quarter and scored two touchdowns on interception returns. First, nose guard Brandon Davis dropped into coverage and picked off a pass from Guffey and ran it back 45 yards for a touchdown. Hazel Green’s next series, freshman A.J. Harris picked off a pass in the flat and raced 66 yards to make it 34-7 after the extra point was missed.
“I never expected to get an interception not playing nose guard,” Davis said. “The offensive linemen let me go early so I sensed screen so I dropped back and the ball came right to me. I just read my blocks and kept running.”
Bob Jones plays at Huntsville next week in a non-area game.
