Playing with a limited roster because of injuries, the Central Holmes Trojans pulled a rabbit out of the hat against. J.Z. George.
The Trojans scored a late touchdown to pull off a 37-34 come-from-behind win over J.Z. George on Friday night. Central Holmes improves to 3-3 on the season with the win.
“I have never been more proud of a group of individuals,” Central Holmes coach Jim Crowder said. “We are down in number and have had to move some guys to different positions. Everyone was willing to do what it took to succeed. They laid it on the line for each other and when things didn’t go well on that first drive, it would have been the perfect time to point fingers. But they put their head down and fought. That was the key to the game, the willingness to be selfless and be team players.”
J.Z. George took the ball to start the game and promptly went 67 yards in seven plays as Dorian Townsend scored on a 14-yard run. The PAT failed and J.Z. led 6-0.
The Trojans answered with a long drove of their own as they went 65 yards in 10 plays as Wykece Johnson scored on a 2-yard run. Owen O’Bryant’s PAT was good and Central Holmes led 7-6.
The Jaguars answered right back with a six-play, 65-yard drive and scored on a 19-yard run with 1:55 left in the first quarter for a 14-7 lead.
After the Trojans turned the ball over on downs, J.Z. was forced to put but had it blocked with 11:06 left in the second quarter to cut the lead to 14-9.
The Trojans got the ball on the free kick and drove 52 yards in six plays as Johnson scored on a 10-yard touchdown run. O’Bryant’s PAT gave the Trojans as 16-14 lead.
But J.Z. George again answered right back as they went 65 yards in three plays, scoring on a 48-yard pass play to take a 20-16 lead.
The Trojans then proceeded to march out the half, driving 59 yards in 11 plays as Johnson scored on a 5-yard run. O’Bryant’s PAT gave the Trojans a 23-20 lead at the half.
“I am very proud of our kids,” Crowder said. “We saw some things on defense the we thought with multiple tight ends might bother them. It helped our running game. I thought Wykece ran the ball really hard and probably moved close to 1,000 yards on the season. I thought Owen O’Bryant played as good of an individual game as I have seen him play. He had well over 100 yards receiving and made every extra point. He played great at cornerback and may be as good as I have seen him play.”
In the second half, Central Holmes was forced to punt on its first two possessions and J.Z. George finally got the lead back as Townsend scored on a 37-yard touchdown run to finish off a three-play, 85-yard drive.
But Central Holmes answered again as Noah Steen hit O’Bryant on a 52-yard pass play on the second play of the fourth quarter. The PAT was good and Central Holmes led 30-27. J.Z. George answered with another quick scoring drive as they went 52 yards in three plays, scoring on a 49-yard touchdown run with 10:05 left in the game to take a 34-30 lead.
The Trojans appeared to be driving for the winning score when Johnson fumbled into the end zone.The Central Holmes defense then turned the Jaguars over on downs, giving them the ball at their own 24. From there, the Trojans went 7 yards, in six plays as Johnson scored on a 10-yard run. O'Bryant's PAT made the score 37-34.
Johnson finished the night with 182 yards on 39 carries.
J.Z. George had 458 yards of total offense with 361 on the ground. Townsend had 205 yards on 22 carries with two touchdown while Jacob Johnson had 112 yards on nine carries. Jordan Normal was 8-of-12 passing for 97 yards.
“They run two formations and four plays for a reason because they are really good at what they do,” Crowder said. “They rushed for 350 yards the week before against Winona. We knew their running game was going to give us problems. We didn’t tackle well but got a stop when we needed to at the end of the game. We don’t win that game if we don’t stop them on first and goal at the 10 with three minutes left in the game. Our kids rose to the challenge."
