COLUMBIA - By early in the second quarter, the Jefferson City Jays were up two touchdowns on the Rock Bridge Bruins.
The Jays hadn't let the Bruins move the ball offensively other than an 80-yard touchdown.
Plus, the Jays' passing attack was sharp on short, medium and long throws.
But after a three-and-out midway through the second quarter, the game began to shift in favor of the Bruins, who couldn't be stopped for much of the second half in a 41-28 victory on Homecoming.
"We've been talking about those situations all year long," Jays coach Terry Walker said. "When you're up two scores, you just flipped the possession, the last thing you want to do is go three-and-out. Because that was an opportunity for us to put some serious, serious pressure on them with regards to the score."
An incompletion on first down followed by a completion for no gain and a dropped pass, the Jays punted it away and backup running back Miles Cheatum ran it 48 yards on the ensuing drive's second play.
It was 21-14 after Will Norris' second of five made extra points, a score that held for the rest of the half.
Cheatum scored from 66 yards out on Rock Bridge's second play of the second half and the Bruins took the lead early in the fourth quarter when Grant Hajicek floated a pass to Spencer Nivens down the visiting sideline for a 38-yard touchdown just 13 seconds into the fourth quarter.
"They got themselves back into the football game," Walker said. " There is no let up. You go, you go, you go, you go, you go. Every single play you go. You don't look at the scoreboard. We'll tell you when the game's over, so you just go as hard as you can."
Jefferson City did answer when Cole Gresham hit Devin White in stride down the field for an 82-yard touchdown.
Ben Folz made his fourth extra point to tie it at 28 with 10 minute left.
White caught 10 passes for 266 yards and three touchdowns.
"Devin continues to be a bright spot," Walker said.
Rock Bridge took the lead back when Bryce Jackson finished off an 11-play, 85-yard drive with a 3-yard touchdown run with Norris as the lead blocker.
Norris, a linebacker committed to Missouri, made plays on defense, offense and special teams for the Bruins.
"He's a really physical football player," Walker said. "He's physical on defense, very physical on offense, and definitely sets the tone for them. Mizzou is getting a good one."
Rock Bridge (2-4) finished off the scoring with 3:49 left when Jackson scored from 2 yards out.
Jackson ran it 230 yards on 29 caries with three scores, while Cheatum finished with 119 yards on seven attempts.
White found the end zone first with a 61-yard touchdown catch at the 6:45 mark of the first quarter.
The game was tied 15 seconds later when Jackson ran it 80 yards on the first play of the ensuing drive.
With 9:26 left in the second quarter, White got open in the end zone for a 16-yard touchdown catch for a 14-7 lead.
The Jays then forced a punt, which Michael Heislen blocked and Jake Duke recovered in the end zone for a touchdown to give the Jays a 21-7 lead with 8:05 left in the second quarter.
Gresham completed 23-of-43 passes for 345 yards and three touchdowns.
Jefferson City (2-4) plays next Friday at De Smet.
The Spartans, ranked No. 1 in Class 6 in the latest Missouri Media Rankings, defeated Chaminade 32-31 on Friday to improve to 6-0.