Bob Jones comes up Roses to defeat James Clemens
MADISON- This time it wasn’t close. Bob Jones used a ball control offense and a stifling defense to defeat James Clemens 40-14 Friday night before an overflow crowd of over 8,000 fans at Madison City Schools Stadium.
James Clemens entered the game ranked 6th in 7A and the teams entered the game seemingly headed in opposite directions with James Clemens undefeated and Bob Jones 0-2.
But that mattered little as Bob Jones pulled away in the second and third quarter scoring 33 unanswered points.
Demontrez Brown
With his team’s back against the wall Bob Jones coach Kevin Rose came up with one of his best coaching efforts in his nine years as head coach.
“It was one of the top performances of any team since I’ve been here,” Rose said. “It was a total team effort by our coaches and players. Very proud of the way we responded tonight. I was concerned about their running game but our defense rose to the occasion. Kade (Koler) made a bunch of plays but we had guys forcing on the edge and we had lineman in the backfield. We’ve been burned by some good football teams this season but we were ready and prepared tonight.”
For James Clemens excitement turned to nervousness and anticipation turned to frustration as the first win over their cross-town rivals eluded the Jets for the sixth straight year or as Bob Jones pointed out 1825 consecutive days.
After the teams traded three-and-outs, James Clemens grabbed a 7-0 lead when Cameron Cassidy fielded a punt cut right as Bob Jones players went left and took it 75 yards for a score.
It was Bob Jones playing tight to open the game with missed opportunities on catchable balls.
With a chance to pad their lead James Clemens offense ground to a halt as the sweeps that worked against Gardendale were stopped by Bob Jones middle linebacker Kade Koler.
On fourth and six in Jet territory Bob Jones quarterback Caden Rose made his first big play of the game converting with a 34-yard pass to Demontrez Brown to the one where Isaiah Hatchett scored on the next play.
Rose came back to Brown on the Patriots next possession with a 44-yard touchdown pass to grab the lead 12-7 as the two-point try failed.
Bob Jones played without Colby Morrell the starting left tackle who sprained a knee against Austin. He is expected back in a week or so.
The special teams got in on the act as John Michael Riley used a lightning kick that bounced off a surprised Jet player and Riley recovered the ball. Riley did the same thing with the same result in the third quarter to give Bob Jones extra possessions.
James Clemens was flagged for personal foul penalties on successive plays in the second quarter. One was for a blow to Caden Rose’s head after the play.
“It was just guys playing hard-nosed football getting into the game,” Caden Rose said.
Rose threw his second touchdown pass to Brown who went high and took the ball away from a defender to make it 19-7 at halftime. James Clemens had less than 100 yards of total offense at the half.
Meanwhile Rose completed 7 of 10 passes for 112 yards and two touchdowns in the first half. He finished with 277 yards passing on 18 of 29 passes and rushed 9 times for 57 yards.
“Caden made some big plays tonight, he’s a good football player. He had a lot of help. Isaiah had a big run and Demontrez made some big catches,” Kevin Rose said.
Caden Rose’s next big play came in the third quarter as he scrambled 22 yards to convert a third and 10. Bob Jones converted four third downs on the drive that ended with no points but ate up half the third quarter.
“It was exciting. Against James Clemens it’s always fun,” Caden Rose said after the game, his first victory as a varsity quarterback. “We were throwing the ball and they couldn’t stop it. We kept going to Demontrez. When I throw him the ball 99% of the time he is going to catch it. I told him I am going to keep coming to you just go make the play and he said I got you and he did. On the scramble, I was just trying to make something happen. They had it all covered. The linebackers escaped so I had to tuck it and go.”
James Clemens quarterback Jackson Reece then tried to hit a pass in the flat but Khalil Griffin broke up the pass, bobbled the ball, regained control and streaked 37 yards for his first career interception and a pick six touchdown.
Rose made another big play hitting Sam Hunt on third and nine with a 15-yard pass that Hunt took into the end zone to make it 33-7.
James Clemens got their best offensive play when Cameron Cassidy caught a Reece pass at the line of scrimmage and raced through the defense 89 yards for a touchdown.
Isaiah Hatchett added a late touchdown for Bob Jones.
