What a finish; Bob Jones wins on final play
MADISON- With a big home crowd urging them on, the Bob Jones offense suddenly found life in the final two minutes, drove 93 yards to a tying touchdown, and Jacob Fruewald kicked the extra point for a 17-16 win over Christian Brothers (Memphis) to open the season.
“We knew they had an outstanding football team, the winningest program in Memphis,” Bob Jones head coach Kevin Rose said after the game. “To get a victory and show the character to drive the length of the field it’s a huge win for us.”
The game winning drive started at their own seven-yard line. Three plays got a first down but less than a minute remained. Caden Rose calmly hit John Michael Riley over the middle for 25 yards then on fourth down Dylan Ray made a leaping catch for 27 yards. On fourth down Riley again made a big catch and run plus a personal foul moved the ball to first and goal from the four. On fourth down Khalil Griffin surged over the right side into the end zone from the one on the Patriots final play.
“Caden did a good job on the final drive of extending the play hitting Dylan Ray and then hit JM,” Roses said. “I trust those guys. Khalil Griffin, Dylan Ray, John Michael Riley, and our offensive line did a good job. The first game is very important to win to give the players confidence and to win a game like that to know we can come from behind against a quality opponent we can build on this for the rest of the year.”
In week zero when some teams were playing jamborees, Rose was aggressive and threw the playbook open to try to beat one of the top teams in Tennessee. Christian Brothers had a huge size advantage with two defensive linemen SEC-bound.
Bob Jones attacked the middle of the field with short to intermediate routes. Griffin and Jacob Guyton ran mostly between the tackles.
With Bob Jones trailing, Rose went for it on fourth down from his own 37-yard line early in the fourth quarter and Caden was stopped.
“We needed a spark and they needed to know their head coach had confidence in them,” Rose said. “The defense didn’t give up any points and gave us a chance to win.”
Christian Brothers grabbed the early 7-3 lead after one quarter as Bob Jones first two drives stalled inside the twenty. Jake Fruewald kicked a 27-yard field goal.
Bob Jones put together a 10-play drive in the second quarter as Riley caught a 14-yard touchdown pass before Christian Brothers tied in 10-10 at half.
Caden Rose shook off two first half interceptions and completed 18 passes for 217 yards and added 68 yards rushing.
Caden Rose throws as Art Allen blocks
Artavian Toney recovered a fumble for Bob Jones. Tavias Clark and Walker Styles recorded sacks. Chris Cobbs made big stops on the defensive line.
Christian Brothers put together a long drive in the third quarter and went ahead 16-10.
It was a physical game and Bob Jones lost Josh Guyton to a knee injury then Khalil Griffin went down but returned to score the winning touchdown.
Bob Jones wisely saved a time out to use after third down came up a foot short with 8 second left.
With the game down to one play Rose called for a running play “ace muscle and we gave it to Khalil and he got the north south cut and banged it in.”
It was the first varsity start for center Drew Lawson and guards Ethan Dawes and Michael Lucente.
