Tigers trounce Highlanders
Aaron Thompson ran for 201 yards and two touchdowns, and Quadry Jones passed for 212 yards and four touchdowns as Jones High defeated host Lake Highland Prep 41-13 to earn the Class 4A, District 5 runner-up playoff berth on Friday night.
It was fitting that two of Jones’ touchdown passes went to quarterback turned-tight end James Brown, who was the Tigers quarterback before Quadry Jones transferred from Oak Ridge. With Jones in the fold, head coach Elijah Williams moved Brown to a different role and his two touchdown catches Friday night were a culmination of that.
Brown showed his athleticism with some nifty moves on a 32-yard pass from Jones in the fourth quarter that gave the Tigers a 34-7 lead with 11:04 left in the game.
Williams had a game plan to showcase the running game early with Thompson, and the success on the ground eventually opened up the passing game for Jones. Quadry Jones also connected on touchdown passes to James Felix and Vincent Thomas.
But the night mostly belonged to Thompson whose 201 yards on 20 carries was a career high.
Jones (9-1 overall, 3-1 district) will travel to Avon Park for a first-round playoff game in two weeks. Lake Highland (6-3, 2-2) finishes the season next week at Trinity Prep.
“It's awesome, man,’’ said Williams, who took over at Jones last spring after coaching at Oak Ridge. “We came here and started to rebuild this program and we didn't know what to expect or how long it would take. I’m a different type of coaching and a lot of kids can’t take the way to coach, and that’s fine, but these guys stayed to task and they worked hard and, man, we’re 8-1 and we’re the metro champs ... and we’re in the playoffs.
“Just a tremendous job by these kids with their work ethic and determination.’’