James Kenan’s David “Cito” Zelaya goes airborne and flips his way into the end zone for a fourth-quarter touchdown against Wallace-Rose Hill on Friday evening. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
A Wallace-Rose Hill defender is called for defensive pass interference in the end zone against James Kenan’s Tyquise Wilson during second-half play. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
James Kenan junior quarterback Eli Avent reacts after enduring a first-half quarterback sack. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
James Kenan’s Cal Avent sacks Wallace-Rose Hill quarterback Matthew Wells during first-period play Friday evening. (Rudy Coggins|mountolivetribune.com)
WALLACE — James Kenan landed two stunning blows that rocked a long-time football nemesis back on its heels Friday evening.
The knockout punch never came.
Wallace-Rose Hill withstood a late fourth-quarter offensive flurry of punches and emerged victorious, 17-14, before a standing-room-only crowd at Jack Holley Field inside Thell B. Overman Stadium.
The Bulldogs clinched a share of the East Central 2A regular-season title — but, more importantly — the league’s automatic postseason bid. They own the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Tigers.
“It just felt like we couldn’t really get anything consistently going on offense and even when we jumped into our double-tight package, they began to slow it down in the first half,” Grady said. “We were fishing around the playbook and trying to find something to work with. These kids just owned that [power package] because there was no where to turn.
“These kids, they’re a blue-collar team and I’m proud that they took advantage of that.”
Indeed.
Trailing 17-0 with eight minutes to go, the Tigers (9-1 overall, 5-1 ECC) re-discovered their resilience and resolve that had been absent for three-plus quarters.
Grady employed the power package — an offensive scheme that grinded its gears to near perfection and kept the Bulldogs from making consistent defensive substitutions.
Jeremiah Hall’s 1-yard plunge erased the zero on the Tigers’ side of the scoreboard with 5:47 to go. After a defensive stop, David Zeleya literally flipped his way into the end zone from eight yards out.
Kenan trailed 17-14 with 53.8 seconds left in regulation.
“We lost our focus at the end,” Bulldogs head coach Kevin Motsinger said. “We were not disciplined when they jumped into that super power [package]. Before the half, I had to make some adjustments that got us off kilter.
“We lost our discipline on the edge. We started chasing in the backfield instead of doing our jobs and they’re very good. There’s a reason they’re 9-0. Hat’s off to them. Their kids fought to the very end.”
The Bulldogs recovered the onside kick after Zeleya’s score, lined up in victory formation twice and sealed their 12th consecutive win over their county arch rival.
James Kenan hasn’t won at Holley Field since 2012 when Marcelias Sutton toted the pigskin in the Tigers’ backfield.
As expected, the East Central’s top two defenses staged a first-half war.
Each came up with decisive stops — moreso by the Bulldogs (7-3, 5-1) than by the Tigers. Kenan punted once and turned the ball over downs twice, including inside the WRH 10-yard line.
Division I recruit Irving Brown accounted for the Bulldogs’ two touchdowns on runs of 3 and 1 yard within a six-minute span in the second quarter.
“I think the challenge of asking our defense to make stops against a good offense … talking about a Division I running back [and] the big stops they made, capitalizing on them when we tried to get something going,” said Grady, whose team trailed 14-0 at halftime.
“[Our defensive] guys not coming off the field … we’re asking them to block [on offense] and they’re just coming off the field on defense. We’re a razor-thin team numbers wise. We’re asking a lot out of these kids because we don’t have a lot of depth.”
Cesar Perla Fuentes drilled a 20-yard field goal in the fourth, which extended the Bulldogs’ lead to 17-0.
After the teams shook hands and headed toward their respective end zones, an emotionally-charged Grady gathered his team close together for the post-game huddle.
“I love the way how you finished this game,” he said. “We never really got a real break at the beginning [of the game]. We could have bowed our head. You got them up against the rope. It’s ok. It’s supposed to hurt.
“Now you’ve got a whole playoff season to look forward to and you got their attention tonight.”
You may reach sports writer Rudy Coggins at prepswriter2@gmail.com or call/text 919-709-9257.
Wallace-Rose Hill 17, James Kenan 14
Scoring Summary
Second Quarter
WRH — Brown 3 run (Fuentes kick), 5:47
WRH — Brown 1 run (Fuentes kick), 0:48
Fourth Quarter
WRH — Fuentes 20 FG, 8:14
JK — Hall 1 run (Gomez kick), 5:57
JK — Zeleya 8 run (Gomez kick), 0:53.8
