Diminutive Foley carries Ready to big win
Ready tailback Jack Foley is so small at 5 feet 6 and 136 pounds that teammates could practically stuff him inside an equipment bag and still have enough space to fit a bunch of helmets and footballs before zipping him up.
Amanda-Clearcreek painfully found out that Foley is difficult to see and harder to catch as he ran for 239 yards and two touchdowns on 29 carries in the Knights’ 28-0 victory Friday night at Upper Arlington’s Marv Moorehead Stadium.
Ready (5-1) gained valuable computer points in its quest to make the Division V playoffs. It ranked fourth before the game.
The team was supposed to be in a fix after Devin Dukes, who ran for 2,147 yards and 25 touchdowns in being voted district player of the year last season, transferred to Grove City. Enter Foley. “Jack is a tough kid and gives you everything he has got for 135 to 140 pounds,” coach Brian Cross said. “He’s a heck of a football player, but we don’t want him carrying that ball that much. We didn’t think Jack would be a starter this season, but we lost two players who transferred.”
Of course, Foley didn’t go into the season with designs on becoming the next Dukes.
“I was trying to earn my time at the beginning of the year, but the main thing is I wanted us to keep playing as a team — working together — because that’s how we play our best,” he said.
Coaches went to a different scheme this week by removing the tight end and adding a running back, and it worked from the start.
Foley set the tone by running 72 yards for a touchdown on the Knights’ third play at 7:09 of the first quarter. He popped through a hole on the left side and sprinted untouched down the sideline.
With 1:27 left in the first quarter, Foley ended a 10-play, 82-yard drive with a 5-yard touchdown run to make it 14-0.
Was he ready for such a large workload?
“You just have to keep working,” he said. “We’ve put in so much conditioning that we’re ready for these games.”
Quarterback Austin Aiello smiled broadly talking about the team’s new running back sensation.
“Oh, he’s a great player and has the biggest heart in the world,” he said. “People don’t think much of him because of his size, but that man might as well be 6 feet 6. We wanted to come out with some fire and run the ball down the field. Our line did a great job and the backs found the holes. We executed our game plan.”
Aiello completed 13 of 17 passes for 132 yards, including 12- and 19-yard touchdown passes, and the defense got interceptions from Cade Dent and Jaishan Norris while holding the Aces (4-2) scoreless. Rushed for 256 yards and five touchdowns in a 32-20 win over Africentric.
Rushed for 239 yards and two touchdowns on 29 carries in a 28-0 win over Amanda-Clearcreek. Rushed for 162 yards and three touchdowns in a 35-0 win over Northridge.
Rushed for 153 yards and three touchdowns in a 28-14 win over Grove City.
Completed 15 of 19 passes for 270 yards and five touchdowns in a 49-28 win over Circleville.
Completed 13 of 25 passes for 266 yards and three touchdowns in a 42-23 win over Westerville South. Completed 23 of 32 passes for 238 yards and four touchdowns in a 31-28 loss to Olentangy Liberty.
Completed 12 of 18 passes for 196 yards and two touchdowns in a 44-20 win over Groveport. Had five receptions for 118 yards and one touchdown in a 26-12 win over West.
Had three receptions for 113 yards and one touchdown in a 27-7 loss to Hamilton Township.