Explosive passing attack leads Patriots to win
JASPER -- It was another historic night for the Homewood High School football team and quarterback Woods Ray, as the senior quarterback surpassed 2,000 passing yards on the season en route to a 38-20 road victory over Jasper.
The Patriots’ talented signal-caller connected on 14 of his 18 passes for 259 yards and five passing touchdowns, along with a 23-yard run on another scoring drive. Ray’s favorite target, Jackson Parris, hauled in six catches, three of which ended in the end zone, totaling 150 yards on the night. Charlie Reeves had two first-quarter scores on his only two grabs of the night.
Ray got the fireworks going early, completing 3-of-4 passes, including a 30-yard score to Reeves, on Homewood’s first drive. He followed that up with another 26-yard touchdown pass to Reeves on the Patriot’s second drive.
Early in the second quarter, following a disastrous fake punt attempt from the Vikings, Ray found Parris from 29 yards out to put his team up by three scores.
Freshman running back Micah Pledger was impressive for the home team, pacing all rushers with 20 carries and 92 yards with three scores, the first of which came with just under four minutes to play in the first half, cutting the deficit to 21-7. Pledger also added 63 receiving yards on three catches for the Vikings.
Following a Homewood field goal to make it 24-7, Jasper lost the football on a backwards pass, though Homewood’s attempt to run it all the way back for six points was denied following a penalty for a block in the back.
But with one, untimed down from the Jasper 33-yard line, Ray made the Vikings pay for their mistake, throwing it to Parris, who somehow came up with the ball amidst the crowd of players from both teams, making it 31-7 at the break.
While Jasper was able to punch it through with Pledger twice more in the second half, they were unable to come all the way back.
Jasper quarterback Spencer Rosenfeld finished 7-of-13 passing for 80 yards, one fumble and another 63 yards on 14 carries. Receiver Cory Shephard added three catches and 41 yards, while Garrett Busby added 71 yards on 12 carries.
Homewood’s run game was led by Calyb Colbert, who had 26 yards on 11 carries. The Patriots managed 75 yards total on the ground on 27 carries, an average of 2.8 yards per carry, something head coach Ben Berguson wants to see improve before next Friday’s home playoff game against McAdory High School.
“We have to be able to run the ball,” Berguson said.
Still, a dominant air attack and sharp performance had the Patriots coach happy heading into the playoffs.
“I thought we really looked sharp,” Berguson said. “I was really proud of Woods.”
Heading into the playoffs, Berguson said the team has some things to work on this week.
“I’m glad we got the momentum from this game going into it,” Berguson said.