James Clemens flips script in ’26 Madison Bowl
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MADISON – Nearly halfway through the fourth quarter, the Madison Bowl looked to be heading towards a dramatic finish.
James Clemens had other ideas.
After Bob Jones pulled to within seven points with 6:48 remaining in the game, the Jets took off from there and scored three unanswered touchdowns to take a 49-20 decision over their city rivals Friday night at Madison City Stadium.
An overflow crowd looked on as the Jets avenged a crushing 54-7 loss last season in the Class 6A, Region 4 season opener for both teams.
Bob Jones (1-2, 0-1) leads the overall series 8-7, but James Clemens (2-1, 1-0) has won 7-of-9 to tighten the gap.
“We fended off a really good first-half start,” Jets coach Juan Johnson said. “Their plan was really solid. They wanted to slow down the tempo, and that’s hats off to them and what they were able to do.
“But we weathered the storm, and we were able to get to our pace and hopefully get to our averages in the second half.”
James Clemens quarterback Matthew Evers and star running back MJ Gideon, shut down in a loss to Parker last week, were anything but average.
Evers passed for more than 300 yards with three touchdown passes and a rushing TD. Gideon, the Vanderbilt commit who was shut down by Parker last week, was back in form with 173 rushing yards with two TDs and 79 yards receiving with one TD.
Also, for the Jets, Aaron Gonzalez had 118 receiving yards with TDs of 56 and 45 yards in the second half.
“Ultimately, you kind of saw a result of a team that kind of had something built up for 365 days,’’ Johnson said. “But at the end of the day, it’s just one game.”
Bob Jones running back Jaden Rice, who scored from the 1-yard line as the Patriots pulled to within 27-20, rushed for 175 yards and two touchdowns.
Gideon scored on a 58-yard run, Myles Yarbrough had a 47-yard pick-6 and Evers scored from the 7 to close out the scoring.
Bob Jones led 7-6 after one quarter, it was tied 13-all at halftime and James Clemens led 20-13 entering the fourth.
“They made about three more plays than we did in the second half and kudos to them,’’ Bob Jones coach Seth Parker said. “(Gideon) is a great player, and he carried them all night. He’s a great football player.’’
Friday, Bob Jones plays Grissom (0-2, 0-1) at Milton Frank Stadium.
“We’ve got a lot of football left, whether we won or lost this game,’’ Parker said. “You know, last year we won the (Madison Bowl) and then proceeded to go 1-5 the rest of the year.
“So, you know, it’s not one of those things where it’s going to determine a lot about our season. It’s one game. We played a bad second half tonight. We’ll move on to next week.”
James Clemens hosts Gadsden City (1-2, 0-1), also on Friday.
“We’ve got to get ready for next week,” Johnson said. “And this is in no means nothing against the Madison Bowl itself, but you’ve got to play the full season if we’re going to compete against the state.”
