COLUMBIA, Mo. - After failing to come up with big plays in two previous losses to Hickman, Jefferson City more than flipped the script Friday night.
Trailing 33-32 with just more than a minute left, Rayshawn Williams scored on a 60-yard run to lift Jefferson City to a 40-33 come-from-behind victory in Columbia.
Williams got to the outside and turned the corner and went nearly untouched into the end zone as the Jays broke a two-game losing streak against Hickman.
"It was mostly my teammates who had good blocks," Williams said.
Hickman marched down to the Jefferson City 35-yard line before turning it over on downs with less than 30 seconds to play as Jefferson City ran out the clock.
Williams' touchdown capped a wild game that turned into a shootout in the final minutes.
Hickman (2-4) led 21-19 at halftime before Jefferson City (4-2) rallied to take a 32-21 lead on a pair of field goals by J.T. Bohlken and a 3-yard touchdown run by Gabe Marcantonio.
The Kewpies came back with an 11-yard touchdown pass from Mason Murray to Isaiah Schauer with 3:42 left in the fourth quarter. But Hickman missed the 2-point conversion to leave the score at 32-27.
After a Jefferson City 3-and-out, Hickman blocked Jefferson City's punt and ran it five yards into the end zone to take a 33-32 lead with 1:46 left.
That's when Williams got to the corner to give the Jays the victory.
"They really hadn't adjusted to Ray's speed," Jefferson City head coach Ted LePage said. "Ray has an extreme amount of speed. I told the coaches they hadn't stopped that play, let's run it into the boundaries. At worse, he gets out of bounds."
Said Hickman coach Arnel Monroe: "We just didn't get him tackled."
Williams turned into the star with 140 yards rushing, but the first half belonged to Hickman running back Justise Keith. Keith ran for 180 yards in the first half and 220 for the game.
He took the first play from scrimmage 51 yards for a touchdown to put Hickman up 7-0. Jefferson City responded just three plays later with a 71-yard touchdown run by Gabe Marcantonio, but the Jays missed the extra point to make the score 7-6.
Jefferson City took a 12-7 lead on an 8-yard run by Rahem Moorman with 8:30 left in the first quarter before Hickman responded with a 2-yard touchdown run by Keith to put Hickman up 14-12 late in the first.Â
The Kewpies then took a 21-12 lead on Keith's third touchdown of the game early in the third quarter. Jefferson City responded right before the half on a 27-yard touchdown run by Marcantonio to make the score 21-19 Hickman at halftime.
The big plays weren't limited to Jefferson City's offense. Hickman recovered a muffed punt inside the Jefferson City 10-yard early in the fourth quarter trailing by eight. But the Kewpies weren't able to turn it into any points as Jordan Robinson blocked the ensuing field goal and Austin Chiagorom returned the ball to the Hickman 40-yard line. That stand proved to be big for the Jays.
"Any win is big for us, but this is a big win," LePage said. "Our kids don't quit."
Marcantonio led the Jays with 159 yards rushing as the Jays had 372 yards on the ground and 475 yards of total offense. Hickman finished with 279 yards on the ground and 443 yards of total offense.
But it was Williams' big play that sealed Jefferson City's first win against Hickman in three seasons.
The Jays are back in action Friday for Homecoming against Gateway Tech.