Telegraph Staff Writer
Quarterback Amari Jones rushed for three touchdowns and threw for another two in the Bradford High School football team’s 42-18 win over host Yulee, a Class 5A team, on Oct. 22.
Jones attempted only 14 passes (completing eight for 166 yards) as the Tornadoes, who host fellow Class 1A team Madison County on Friday, Oct. 29, at 7:30 p.m., placed more of an emphasis on running the ball.
The result was 229 yards rushing on 42 attempts. Isaiah Wilcox gained 64 yards on 11 caries, while Jones and Willie Pollard, who each had nine carries, gained 45 and 59 yards, respectively. Manny Covey added 43 yards on 10 carries.
“We did some things a little bit different tonight and ran the ball well,” BHS Head Coach Brian Tomlinson said, adding, “The offensive line — I can’t give them enough credit. They’ve been challenged pretty much all year. We challenged them hard this week. They stepped up and did what we asked of them.”
It was a nice bounce back for the Tornadoes (4-4) after their 38-21 loss to Baldwin. However, it was the host Hornets (3-5) who struck first. Wide receiver Zackary Drawdy caught a short pass from Chris Turner on a slant pattern and went the distance for a 57-yard touchdown on the first play from scrimmage. L.J. Jacobs was held out of the end zone on a run attempt on the two-point conversion, but Yulee led 6-0.
Bradford responded with touchdown drives of 72 and 71 yards on its first two series.
“You make a mistake or two against a fast receiver, and that happens,” Tomlinson said. “We didn’t let it bother us.”
A 15-yard run by Covey and two 15-yard penalties helped the Tornadoes move from their 28 to the Yulee 20 on their first series. A holding penalty backed Bradford up, but Triavez Hankerson took a short pass and reversed field on his way to a 31-yard gain to the 2-yard line. Covey took a pitch from Jones and scored from there at the 9:06 mark of the first quarter. Hayden Hughes, who was 6-of-6 on extra-point attempts, added the PAT for a 7-6 lead.
The Hornets drove to the Bradford 30 on the ensuing series, but C.J. Carn put an end to the threat with an interception that set the Bradford offense up at its own 29.
Bradford picked up first downs on receptions of 11 6 yards by Jeremiah Crum and Wilcox, respectively. After Jones carried the ball for an 8-yard gain, Wilcox had three straight carries to move the Tornadoes to the Yulee 20-yard line. An 11-yard run by Jones set up first-and-goal at the 7. Pollard was tackled for a 3-yard loss on first down, but Jones carried the ball for a 9-yard gain, which set up his own 1-yard touchdown plunge with 10 minutes remaining in the second quarter. Hughes added the PAT to put the Tornadoes ahead 14-6.
The Tornadoes’ defense struck again on the ensuring series, with Trente Jenkins recording a strip-sack. Bradford recovered the fumble at the Yulee 45-yard line.
Bradford’s offense turned the ball over on downs after four plays. Yulee proceeded to drive to the Bradford 35, but on fourth-and-8, Alexander and Covey combined to break up a pass inside the 5-yard line with 23 seconds until halftime.
In the second half, the Tornadoes proved to be pretty much unstoppable, scoring on all but one of their five possessions. Two of those drives covered more than 60 yards as the Tornadoes averaged 59 yards per scoring drive for the game.
The third quarter began with Jametrius Pringle’s long kickoff return to the Bradford 40-yard line. Two plays later, Tez Williams took a short pass 48 yards to the Yulee 10. Wilcox followed that up with a 9-yard carry to the 1. He was then tackled for a 1-yard loss on second down, but Jones scored from 2 yards out. After Hughes’ PAT, Bradford led 21-6 at the 9:25 mark of the third quarter.
Passes of 24 and 27 yards helped the Hornets drive from their own 40 to the Bradford 3-yard line. Jergotti Wilcox capped the 15-play drive with an 8-yard touchdown run to make the score 21-12 with 3:05 left in the third quarter. Yulee went for two, with Wilcox being tackled shy of the end zone by Bradford’s Wilcox, Cole Crosby and Trent Hankerson.
Pollard carried the ball on the first two plays of Bradford’s next series, gaining 13 and 37 yards. His second run set the offense up at Yulee’s 15-yard line. A 10-yard reception by Williams moved the Tornadoes to the 5. After losing a yard on the next play, Jarrin Alexander scored on a 6-yard reception. Hughes kicked the extra point for a 28-12 lead with 1:14 remaining in the third quarter.
Yulee failed to recover the ensuing kickoff, which put the Bradford offense back onto the field at the Hornets’ 46-yard line. Williams dropped two passes, but made up for them on fourth-and-11. A pass intended for Crum was tipped by a defender. Williams was in the right place at the right time, catching the deflection and racing his way to a 47-yard touchdown and a 35-12 lead with 16 seconds still left on the clock before the fourth quarter.
“Sometimes, it’s better to be lucky than good,” Tomlinson said. “All I saw was him end up with the football.”
Williams finished with four receptions for 112 yards.
Jergotti Wilcox broke out of a tackle at the line of scrimmage and scampered for a 41-yard Yulee touchdown on the second play of the fourth quarter, making the score 35-18. Turner’s pass on the two-point conversion attempt was incomplete.
Four runs by Isaiah Wilcox as well as pass-interference and unsportsmanlike-conduct penalties on the Hornets helped the Tornadoes move to the Yulee 10-yard line. Jones capped the drive with his third touchdown run of the night —a 1-yarder that, after Hughes’ PAT, made the score 42-18 with 6:14 to play.
“If we can build off of this going into next week, big things can happen,” Tomlinson said.
The Tornadoes will certainly want to keep improving as their next opponent is a Madison County team that has had a long run of success, regardless of what classification it’s in. The Cowboys have qualified for the playoffs every year but one since 1995 and have played for a state championship 10 times since 1998.
Madison (5-3) is coming off a 28-16 win over Class 6A Columbia.
This will be just the second time this season that Bradford has played a fellow Class 1A team.
The Tornadoes and the Cowboys played each other in the 2020 regular season, with Madison winning 14-0. The Cowboys went on to play in the state semifinals before losing 18-14 to eventual state runner-up Hawthorne.
