COLUMBIA, Mo. - The Jefferson City Jays put themselves in the best spot they could to win Friday night at Battle.
With three seconds left it came down to the leg of Ben Folz. There was no doubt in the junior kicker.
"I had confidence in him or I wouldn't have put him out there," Jefferson City coach Terry Walker said after Folz made a 35-yard field goal for a 17-14 win for the Jays. "We watch Ben kick every day in practice and I know he missed at a couple of them tonight, but 100 out of 100 times I would run him out there and do it again."
A kick-catch interference penalty on Battle gave the Jays the ball at the Spartan 48-yard line with :24 on the clock.
Quarterback Devin Roberson scrambled for 14 yards on first down and tossed the ball to an open Devin White for a 6-yard gain on a third-and-10.
Then Battle had back-to-back penalties to make a 45-yard try a 35-yard attempt.
"We watch him every day in practice and he his pretty solid around 40," Walker said. "Once you get outside 40 then every kicker has some ups and downs there. He hit it square and he hit it through."
Folz proved he had plenty of leg at the end of the first half.
A 47-yard field goal went through the uprights but Battle was called for encroachment, which meant the play didn't count.
Then the 42-yard attempt was no good, but Battle was offside to set up a 37-yard attempt. Folz had plenty of distance on that kick, but it went wide left to keep the score 14-7 Jays at halftime.
Battle scored the lone touchdown of the second half when Darren Jordon capped an eight-play, 56-yard drive with a 13-yard touchdown run. Jaylon Williamson booted the PAT to tie it at 14 with 7:52 left in the game.
Other than that, the Jefferson City defense forced Battle to punt three times and turned the Spartans over on downs in the second half.
Battle entered the game averaging nearly 40 points per game.
"I thought our defense was far and away our best game of the year," Walker said. "We know we keep getting better, but sometimes the kids have to experience it on a Friday what it means to do what you're supposed to do fundamentally and then see the result that can happen when you do that."
The Jays turned a Battle fumble in the red zone into points in the first quarter.
Roberson had completions of 6 and 16 yards to Levi Jobe and Maleek Jackson bounced off tacklers for a 20-yard gain to get the Jays to the 13-yard line.
Two plays later, Christian White caught the first of his two touchdown passes at the goal line for a 9-yard score. Folz added the PAT for a 7-0 lead with 4:12 on the clock.
After Jays defensive lineman Brandon Backues stopped a screen pass to Jordon for a 1-yard gain on third-and-9, Battle punted and Jefferson City drove it 75 yards in five plays.
White got open for a 51-yard reception on the second play, Jackson followed with a 13-yard run and White caught a 4-yard touchdown pass from Roberson.
"Christian's got that ability," Walker said. "He's another kid that's elusive and has the ability to make kids miss and he's a senior that we've relied on and the kids look to him for leadership."
Folz added his second PAT for a 14-0 lead with less than a minute left in the first quarter.
Jordon pulled Battle within 14-7 with 8:51 left in the first half when he ran 22 yards to the end zone on an option play.
Jefferson City (4-4) will finish the regular season next Friday at Rockhurst, which is the third-ranked team in Class 6. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. in Kansas City.
Battle (4-4), the eighth-ranked team in Class 5, will play next Friday at Hannibal.