COLUMBIA - There was plenty for the Jefferson City Jays to celebrate about Friday night at Rock Bridge.
Kevion Pendelton was usually the one giving the Jays a reason to.
The junior made key plays in all three phases to help give the Jays a chance to break their losing streak that began in Week 4 last season.
"Had one heck of a game tonight," Jefferson City coach Scott Bailey said following a 23-21 defeat against the Bruins. "I mean, all around one heck of a game."
With the game tied at 14 about midway through the second quarter, Pendelton made a break from his safety spot for a pass in the middle of the field intended for Tomisaac Johnson and picked it off to set the Jays up just 35 yards from the end zone.
"He's a good athlete playing really good coverage," Bailey said.
Jefferson City quickly made it to the 21-yard line after three straight runs for running back David Bethune, but a loss of 8 yards on a fumble and a juggling interception along the sideline for Rock Bridge defensive back Daleshaun Coleman was the start of a trend of not scoring following a turnover.
On the second play of the Bruins' drive, Jays linebacker Will Berendzen cut down running back Bryce Jackson, who lost possession of the ball and Pendelton scooped it up.
Starting at the Rock Bridge 13-yard line, Jefferson City lost three yards on first down, went back 5 yards on an illegal motion penalty and lost 7 more yards on a run.
After a Seth Brooks pass to the end zone sailed just over Marshaun Dye for an incomplete pass, a 44-yard field goal attempt went wide left.
While the Jays failed to break the tie with two takeaways, the defense remained strong to start the second half.
Jays middle linebacker Mario Mejia brought down Jackson for a 2-yard loss on second down of the Bruins' first second-half possession, and an incomplete pass on a Nathan Dent roll-out forced a punt.
"I would say from Week 1 to Week 3 our tackling has improved considerably," Bailey said.
Brooks contributed to the defense's cause on that drive by punting the ball to the 1-yard line, and in turn benefited himself and the offense after Rock Bridge's punt only made it 18 yards.
Jefferson City reached the 9-yard line on a Brooks sneak on fourth-and-3 and the 6-yard line on another Brooks run, but the drive stalled after a blindside block penalty.
On third-and-goal from the 13-yard line, linebacker Nate Norris got around the edge and brought down Brooks from behind for a sack and forced fumble that lineman Clayton Hurley recovered.
The ensuing drive didn't last long as Jays defensive end Frank Gillmore dragged down Jackson for a 7-yard loss on first down to help force a three-and-out.
The Jays then went 87 yards in just eight plays, including a 45-yard touchdown run by receiver Devin White. Bassil Ahmed added the extra point for a 21-14 lead with 9:13 left in the game.
The Bruins answered.
Dent completed a 29-yard pass to Payton Messer, Jackson had runs of 11, 6 and 11 yards, and Messer caught a 21-yard pass just inside the pylon on third-and-10 with 5:43 left.
Jackson ran it 25 times for 116 yards, including touchdown runs of 10 and 3 yards for Rock Bridge's two first-half scores.
The Jays would retain the lead, though.
Pendelton got around the outside on the extra-point attempt and made the block standing up to keep the score 21-20.
"I would just say great individual effort to get himself in front of the ball, not lay out, stay on his feet," Bailey said. "Really, really good athlete."
But on second down of the next drive, a pair of Rock Bridge defenders wrapped up White to cause a fumble that Johnson recovered at the Jefferson City 40-yard line.
Jackson had runs of 13 and 6 yards on back-to-back plays to get the Bruins within range of a field goal, which Jack Bower made from 27 yards out with :25.4 left.
"If you lose the turnover battle you put yourself in a bad position trying to win a game," Bailey said. " They won the turnover battle today and right there at the end it hurt us."
The Jays set up shop at their own 40 with :17.1 left after White's return, but Rock Bridge sealed the win when Hudson Gibbs picked off a deep pass intended for Dye.
Brooks completed 10-of-14 passes for 97 yards and a 24-yard touchdown to White to tie the game at 14 midway through the second quarter.
White caught four passes for 44 yards while also leading the Jays with 132 yards rushing on six attempts, including a 71-yard touchdown run on the Jays' third play of the game.
With the win, Rock Bridge improves to 3-0, 2-0 in the Central Missouri Activities Conference with a home game against Capital City (0-3, 0-2 CMAC) on tap for Friday night.
Jefferson City (0-3, 0-1 CMAC) will host Sedalia Smith-Cotton (0-3, 0-1 CMAC) at 7 p.m. Friday at Adkins Stadium for Homecoming.