Fort Zumwalt West tops Jays with last-second field goal

Jays quarterback Seth Brooks hands off the ball to Jacob Duke as Brady Connell throws a block at the line of scrimmage during Thursday night's game against Fort Zumwalt West at Adkins Stadium.
Jays quarterback Seth Brooks hands off the ball to Jacob Duke as Brady Connell throws a block at the line of scrimmage during Thursday night's game against Fort Zumwalt West at Adkins Stadium.

The last hope the Jefferson City Jays had Thursday night was to get hands up high or get someone running free around the outside. They tried anything they could to block a 20-yard field-goal attempt in the final seconds.

"Get the big, tall guys in the middle, get that reach in the middle and get our fast guys coming off the edge," Jefferson City coach Scott Bailey said.

But Fort Zumwalt West's Cody Gough kicked it perfectly and the ball sailed high over the outstretched arms of the Jays and through the middle of the uprights as time expired for a 23-20 win for the Jaguars at Adkins Stadium.

It's the second time this season the Jays lost on a late field goal, with the first coming in Week 3 in a 23-21 defeat at Rock Bridge.

Jefferson City ran the ball 10 times for 67 yards to tie it at 20 with 8:18 remaining.

Kevion Pendelton converted a third-and-2 with a 3-yard run, quarterback Seth Brooks powered ahead for 2 yards on a sneak on fourth-and-1 and Duke finished off the drive with a 1-yard plunge into the end zone.

David Bethune ran it in for the 2-point conversion to tie it.

"Our entire line did a really good job of controlling the line of scrimmage," Bailey said.

The Jaguars punted on the ensuing drive, but Xavier Oatts got a hit on Brooks and Brett Graczyk was there for an interception to start the game-winning drive at the Jefferson City 45-yard line.

On second-and-12 at the 33, receiver Nick Herbst floated a pass into the arms of Caleb Greiner for a 21-yard completion with three Jay defenders surrounding him.

A defensive pass interference penalty on the play placed the ball at the 8.

"We practically mugged the guy and he still caught it," Jefferson City defensive coordinator Jeff Jacques said. "We knew they were going to do something like that. Nice throw, nice catch, all you can do is tip your hat to them."

The Jays kept the Jaguars out of the end zone on the drive, but Gough made the field goal on fourth-and-goal.

For the second straight week, the Jays scored within the first two plays of the game.

Bethune followed fullback Duke though a gap and ran it 77 yards for a touchdown on the second play for a 6-0 lead.

Bethune scored a 69-yard touchdown on the first play of last week's game against Battle.

The Jaguars answered right back as Kyke Nunn busted through a hole for 34 yards on the first play and ended the drive with a 26-yard touchdown run.

Gough made the extra point for a 7-6 lead with 8:10 left in the first quarter.

Nunn added a 20-yard touchdown run late in the first quarter and Darius Jones scored from 21 yards out late in the second quarter for a 20-12 lead at halftime.

Pendelton got around the edge to block the extra point to keep it a one-score game.

Jefferson City scored midway through the second quarter after safety Nick Williams picked off a pass and caught a 31-yard touchdown pass from Brooks to make the score 14-12.

"That was a really good play right there," Bailey said of the touchdown.

Jefferson City's defense shut down Fort Zumwalt West (3-6) in the second half after switching from a nickel defense to a base 4-3, forcing three punts.

"We just kind of challenged them in the second half and said, 'defense, we're better than this'", Jacques said.

The Jays also got an interception from Ian Jones, who leap into the air to snag the ball with one hand in the third quarter.

"That is one heck of a one-handed grab for an interception right there," Bailey said. "That was an outstanding play right there."

Jefferson City (3-6) will open postseason play next Friday against an opponent to be determined.

The Jays are No. 4 in Class 5 District 4 with Rolla (3-3) third in the standings and Camdenton (4-4) fifth.

Rolla hosts Camdenton tonight.

Washington (7-1) is first in the standings, Battle (5-1) is second and Capital City (0-6) is sixth.

The top two teams will have a bye next week.

"Hopefully we've had enough adversity in this season that now we can overcome it when it really counts," Jacques said.