Jensen Beach captured the district title in raising its record to 7-0 overall and 3-0 in 4A-13.
JENSEN BEACH – After two straight holding penalties, an incomplete pass and a 4-yard gain, the Jensen Beach High football team faced a third-and-26 situation from its own 14-yard line.
Although the Falcons were ahead by a point, if they didn’t gain any yards they likely were giving John Carroll Catholic the ball near midfield or worse with a punt.
The play – Batman – came in from the sideline, but the task of recording a first down was monumental.
Quarterback Dre Lott rolled to the right and found Sylvester Brinkley IV down the right sideline. Brinkley weaved his way in and out of defenders.
The play gained 39 yards and gave the Falcons a huge first down with 7:45 left in regulation.
Jensen Beach offense didn’t score on the drive, but the field-flipping play and a late defensive stand helped the Falcons secure a 21-20 victory over the Rams in a District 13-4A contest.
In raising its record to 7-0 overall and 3-0 in 4A-13, Jensen Beach captures the district title.
When he rolled out, Lott had no doubt Brinkley would reach the first-down marker.
And when Brinkley hauled in the pass, there was no question in his mind about reaching the line to gain.
“I knew I had to come through for our team,” Brinkley said.
“We just tried to get it to our playmaker,” Falcons coach Tim Caffey said. “Sylvester Brinkley IV, we call him the Quarter, he made the play. He’s a kid who’s very shifty. He’s like a Deebo Samuels. He does it all for us. He believes in teal. He’s like, ‘Come to me coach.’ I’ll be doggone if he didn’t make it.
“It was a turning point. We didn’t score, but the playing field switched. He gave us everything he had. It was a great effort by him and a big play in the game.”
It was a backbreaker for the Rams.
“We had them backed up and gave up a long first down,” John Carroll Catholic coach Mickey Groody said. “I told our guys all week this game is going to come down to inches.”
After the drive stalled forcing the Falcons to punt, John Carroll took over on its own 21.
The Rams moved to the Jensen Beach 32-yard line before a sack for an 8-yard loss by Jake Tell. On fourth-and-13, John Carroll tried to pull off a big play of its own. But Anthony Cole and Jaden Queen had the Rams receiver double covered down the left sideline for an incomplete pass, setting off a big celebration on the home sideline.
There also was a sign of relief.
Jensen Beach battled through a number of injuries throughout the game and squandered a 13-point lead before it was able to celebrate.
“This means a lot,” Lott said.
Lott connected with Gage Wilson for a 23-yard touchdown pass on the Falcons’ first drive. Tyrie McFadden, who received the bulk of the carries after Alex Thornton went out early with an injury, made it 13-0 with a 21-yard run.
After John Carroll came back to take a 14-13 lead before the end of the first half, Jensen Beach opened the third quarter with a four-play, 60-yard drive, culminated by a Lott-to-Wilson scoring pass covering 46 yards. Lott ran in the two-point conversion, which turned out to be the deciding points.
“These guys are just gritty, hard-nosed kids,” Caffey said. “We come out here and battle. We just leave it on the field and whatever happens, happens. We’ve got some young kids who don’t know they are supposed to be playing this way. And the results are what it is.”
John Carroll Catholic takeaways
1. After punting twice and turning the ball over on downs on their first three possessions, the Rams’ offense got going late in the second quarter. Quarterback Jackson Summerall threw a pair of touchdown passes in the final 2:06 of the first half. The first went to Jarrel Housing for 18 yards and the second for four yards to Donevon Richardson with 8.7 seconds left. Yatzil Villanueva’s PAT kick gave John Carroll a 14-13 edge at the half. Summerall was 14-for-21 for 132 yards passing in the game and carried eight times for 10 yards. “They came out with a different defense than we thought they were going to, which we thought also,” Groody said. “It took us a little while to get acclimated to it. We came back.”
2. Senior defensive end/outside linebacker Micah Coleman notched 11 tackles with a sack and a tackle for a loss. He also blocked a PAT kick. Zander Lemons had two tackles for a loss. Nathan Jackson and Josh Dean had sacks. Austin Boyd recovered a fumble. “We had our chances. It was a matter of who makes the fewer mistakes, and they made fewer than we did,” Groody said. “It’s part of a learning thing.”
3. The loss snapped a five-game winning streak for the Rams, who had not lost since a 49-0 Week 1 setback to Cardinal Newman. “We still have our playoff goals and aspirations ahead of us,” Groody said after his team fell to 5-2 and 2-1 in the district. “They’re a good team. They deserved that win. The great thing about football is you have to go back to work next week. You can’t feel sorry for yourself too long. I told my guys if this stings and bothers them, it’s supposed to. I know this group, they’ll rebound.”
Jensen Beach takeaways
1. Lott was 9-for-15 for 147 yards. McFadden (3-for-18), Wilson (2-for-69) and Brinkley (2-for-49) were the top receivers. Lott and Wilson left the game in the fourth quarter for a spell.
2. Tell had a tackle for a loss and two sacks. Cason Sweeney had three tackles for a loss. Alex Thornton got off to a great start with a sack and tackle for a loss on the first two plays of the game, but suffered an injury and was out for the remainder of the contest. “Bend but don’t break,” Caffey said of his defense. “We had a lot of kids banged up. It’s next man up and they gave us everything they had.”
3. After losing the first three contests, the Falcons won their first game against John Carroll. The teams met last year with the Rams pulling out a 35-27 victory. Jensen Beach has allowed 49 points in seven games. “We try to win the day,” Caffey said. “And today was the day we tried to win.”
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Jensen Beach football wins district championship over John Carroll
Category: General Sports
