San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Jaguars hold off rally to remain undefeated
Following his team’s comefrom-behind victory against Brandeis on Friday, Johnson coach Mark Soto said the bar has been set for the season.
The Jaguars held off Brandeis’ final-minute charge to hang on to a 28-22 victory at in a battle of undefeated teams at Heroes Stadium.
Johnson climbed from a 14-0 deficit and secured the game thanks to big second half culminated with Ben McCreary’s 64yard touchdown run and Ty Hawkins’ 52-yard scoring catch.
“It’s a great marker for us,” Soto said. “We knew we were going up against a great ballclub. For us to set the standard, from here on out, we need to play that good.”
Area sixth-ranked Johnson improved to 5-0 overall and became the first team in District 28-6A to go 3-0. Madison (3-1, 2-0) had an open week, and Reagan (1-2, 1-0) was scheduled to play LEE on Saturday night.
Third-ranked Brandeis fell to 4-1 and 2-1.
“That was a big win for our team,” said McCreary, who rushed 15 times for 76 yards. “We were down at half, and we came back and fought hard in the second half. Our O-line started getting their blocks, our receivers started to catch the ball and our defense stood up the whole game.”
Christopher Rodriguez scored from two yard to give the Broncos a 7-0 lead midway through the first quarter, marking the first time Johnson trailed this season. The Broncos made it 14-0 early in the second quarter on Clark Ullrich’s 17-yard touchdown catch.
Johnson cut it to 14-7 with 4:43 left in the second quarter on quarterback Cruz Kirwan’s 8-yard keeper.
The game switched in the third quarter after the Jaguars recovered a fumble at Brandeis’ 31 on a punt return. Johnson cashed in on Kirwan’s 22-yard scoring pass to Alejandro Tavarez to tie it at 14-14.
“We a moment on the bench where we just decided it was time to start going,” Johnson linebacker CJ Adair said. “We all picked it up as a team and started the momentum.”
The Jaguars relinquished the lead on the next series after Ruben Davis made a 40-yard field goal to make it 17-14 with 3:11 in the third.
But the field goal allowed the Jaguars to regain the lead on McCreary’s 64-yard scoring run in which he broke loose around the right edge thanks to a superb kickout block by receiver Nicholas Casarez that made it 21-17 with 1:32 in the third quarter.
The Jaguars forced a three-andout and went up 28-17 when Kirwan connected with Hawkins in stride along the right side on the third play of the fourth quarter.
Johnson kept the Broncos out of the end zone on the next series, and Brandeis settled for Davis’ 42yard field goal for a 28-20 score.
“Whenever we needed a stop, (our defense) came up with one,” McCreary said. “We struggled a little bit in the first half, but they kept us in there and they made big stops down the stretch.”
The biggest stop occurred in the final moments when Johnson scored a safety on a high snap over Kirwan in the final minute.
The Broncos took over at their 33 on the ensuing kickoff and drove to the Jaguars 37 with three seconds remaining. Johnson’s Mikey DiRocco picked off a pass to end it.
“Confidence is high right now, but we do back to work on Monday because the next team gets bigger and better in this district,” Soto said. “We knew we had a good team, and we just showed our character, which is important. Adversity reveals character.”