Tigers’ offense soar past Oviedo
Quarterback Christopher Tooley threw 4 touchdown passes and ran for another score, all in the first half, to lead Jones to a runaway 49-21 playoff win on its home field Saturday morning.
The Tigers led 49-14 at halftime, forcing a running clock for the second half of the FHSAA Class 3M (Metro) Region 1 semifinal. Jones (10-2), winners of nine in a row, will travel to unbeaten Edgewater (12-0) next week.
Jerrian Parker rushed for 2 TDs and caught a TD pass in the victory. He had TD runs of 63 and 2 yards and finished with 96 yards rushing.
Jones speedster Jamauri Sands opened the game with a 99-yard kickoff return to set up a 1-yard touchdown keeper by Tooley.
“Our offense is doing better,” said Jones coach Elijah Williams. “We have to. We got Edgewater coming up and they have a tough defense.”
Jones scored on four of its first five possessions to take a 28-0 lead late in the first quarter. The Tigers used a quick-strike offense to put the Lions in a deep hole early, scoring in four plays or less on all of seven of their firsthalf drives.
Tooley had a 1-yard TD run and threw 2 TD passes to Jabari Smith and one each to to Parker and Derrick Rogers.
“We came out and wanted to ball,” said Tooley, who finished with 250 yards passing. “Put
some points up on the board. We knew our defense would hold them.”
Oviedo senior DJ Scott ran for 56 yards and 1 TD, and caught 4 passes for 47 yards and a score. Jackson LaTour threw for 224 yards and 2 TDs, including one to Jacob Thelen (6 catches, 72 yards).
The Lions (10-2) did score three of the final five touchdowns in the game as Jones put its offense in cruise control.
Oviedo came in on an eightgame winning streak.
It took awhile to resolve when and where this game would be played but Jones fans were happy to keep the home-field advantage and play a game that served as the front end of a big neighborhood doubleheader.
Just a couple of blocks up Rio Grande Avenue, FAMU and Bethune-Cookman were scheduled to play their Florida Classic game at Camping World Stadium in the afternoon.