When does 245 equal 210? It is when the number two means several different things. Confused? Don’t feel alone. So is Jonesboro-Hodge High School who is still trying to figure out how they lost the district 3-2A opener 28-22 to Red River this past Friday night.
For an answer to the riddle, 245 represents how much Red River running back Leonard Mosely weighs. The number 210 is how many yards the big bruiser accounted for the 20 times he toted the ball.
The result is that now both schools have two wins on the season against four losses but Red River is sitting at 1-0 in district play while JHHS must wait another week to gain their first 3-2A victory.
Talk about a head scratcher. JHHS ran almost twice as many plays as the Bulldogs, who were celebrating Homecoming night at their beautiful brand new facility adorned with a state of the arts artificial surface. The Tigers also had the ball twice as long during the game. Yet twice in the game JHHS was down by 14 and once 20 points.
Bad bounces! The artificial surface was a pleasure to see but also seemed to favor the home field with the bounces taken by the ball. The first “bad bounce” that hurt the Tigers was when JHHS was trying to convert as fourth and three situation on the Red River 29 yard line. Trying to catch the Bulldogs napping, JHHS ran a reverse. The ball hit the turf on the second handoff and a Red River player inadvertantly kicked it 35 YARDS DOWN FIELD!!!
What made it worse is that with a Red River player in hot pursuit the ball seemingly magically bounded straight up and into his hands setting the Bulldogs up at the Tiger 16. Instead of JHHS driving for the tying score, one play later Red River was up 14-0.
Second half statement! JHHS came out of the break by driving 56 yards on 8 plays to narrow the margin to 14-8 on a Chance Leonard 2 yard run and Ed’Tavious Drayton’s two point conversion.
Quick Strike! Down 28-8, the Tigers struck quickly to give hope of making an incredible comeback. On the the third play of the fourth quarter, Drayton burst up the middle and sprinted his way 68 yards to paydirt to bring JHHS to within two scores.
Defensive dandies! The Tigers added two more when the defense forced Red River to punt from deep in their own territory and the snap sailed through the end zone. The safety was the third in the last two games enjoyed by the Tiger punt coverage team.
The Tigers final score also was result of the JHHS special teams. The Tigers blocked at 24 yard Red River field goal attempt and O’marrion “Lightbulb” Jackson scooped up carom and rambled 75 yards untouched to bring JHHS to within the final margin.
Highlights were Ed’Tavious Drayton going over 100 yards rushing for the third straight game, finishing with 130 yards on 22 rushes and a score. Also promising was the play of Domick Strickland who completed 7 of 13 for 77 yards and the fact that 5 receivers caught passes led by freshman Dakota Knox snaring a 30 yard aerial.