Tigers chew up, spit out Hornets
was circled on our calendar all year since the schedule was done,” Jones coach Elijah Williams said. “The guys were amped up and ready to go. I could sense it during practice."
Jones started the night with an 80-yard drive that sprawled nine plays and ended with Quadry Jones connecting with Je’Quan Burton in the corner of the end zone.
The 35-yard touchdown proved only an appetizer for what was to come.
The Tigers then turned an interception by Kerby Joseph into another Burton score, this time when the senior made defenders miss while juking his way to the end zone from 15 yards out.
And the breaks kept coming as the Tigers capitalized off a bad snap on a Bishop Moore punt attempt and reached the end zone again when Jones hooked up with James Felix for 40 yards.
Jones extended its lead to 27-0 midway through the second quarter when Jadan Robinson took a punt 77 yards the other way for a score.
Daniel Alves added a 47-yard field goal with plenty of distance to spare to start the fourth quarter.
Jones went 15 of 17 passing for 219 yards and four touchdowns. Burton finished with seven catches for 90 yards.
“It was a big statement for us, coming into their district and winning for the chance to be district champs," Jones said. “We just can’t take no one lightly, and we continue to beat everyone we play."
Jones, which moved up a classification from 4A prior to the start of the season, had not faced Bishop Moore since they were district rivals in 2010.
It was the first true test of the season for the Tigers since losing the seasonopener 49-30 at St. John’s College in Washington D.C. Jones went on to blow out Colonial, Oak Ridge and Agape Christian – teams with a combined 1-9 record entering Friday – by a combined 150-7 score.
The loss for the Hornets ends a streak of 35 straight district wins since losing to St. Cloud in 2008.