Late interception lifts Jays to win

sports@standard-democrat.com

CHARLESTON -- All those hours spent practicing tip drills finally paid off for the Charleston Bluejays.

Holding a 34-28 lead over Herculaneum on Friday, the Bluejays found themselves forced to punt to the Blackcats with 2:11 to play.

Needing one last defensive stop, Charleston's Mike Hull deflected a deep pass down the left sideline away from the receiver and towards nearby teammate Sumner Foster. Nearly losing control as the ball continued it's path to the ground, Foster finally secured the ball before falling to the turf to put the Bluejays offense back on the field with just over a minute left.

A few kneel downs later and Charleston had secured the win.

"We had them backed off a little bit more than we normally like to," Charleston coach Brett Blackman said of his defensive backs. "(Hull and Foster) are good buddies and we actually drill that a lot in practice about the tip, picking it off and stuff. We're just lucky to come up with it for once."

With the final stand, the Bluejays made good an on early fourth quarter touchdown by Rontavious Clark to retake the lead.

Trailing 28-26 with 10:26 to play, Clark darted 46 yards downfield to cap a 59-yard drive and put the Bluejays on top for good. Scoring on a 2-point run, Jamaul Gray gave Charleston a six-point cushion.

Holding a four-point lead going into the half, the Bluejays were forced to battle from behind when Herculaneum quarterback Brady Womacks connected with running back Dustin Johnson from 15 yards out to give the Blackcats a 20-18 advantage with 5:16 left in the third.

With 14 seconds left in the quarter, Gray took the ball up the middle for a 50-yard touchdown run to once again put the Bluejays on top 26-20.

On the first play of Herculaneum's ensuing drive, however, Johnson swung things the Blackcats' way one final time with a 75-yard run in which he started up the middle before darting down the right sideline for the score.

On three drives in the fourth, the Bluejays defense was able to keep Herculaneum out of the end zone, including a stop at Charleston's 5-yard line with 5:29 to play.

"Three times in the red zone we held them out and several times our backs were against the wall and they made some plays," Blackman said of his defense. "The play by Sumner Foster made there at the end to ice the game, that's the kind of things that help you win championships right there.

"I don't know if we're there to be championship program there, but I think after seeing some of our kids play we're on our way."

With only five yards through the air on one pass, the overwhelming majority of Charleston's 420 total yards of offense came on the ground.

After being kept out of the offense for the past two weeks with a hand injury, Gray was a big boost to the Bluejays' offense. Finishing with 162 yards on 11 carries, Gray took the first play from scrimmage back 59 yards to give Charleston an early 6-0 lead only 20 seconds into the game.

"We played as a team, hit the holes hard like we're suppose to and did our blocking assignments," Gray said of the running backs. "We barely got hit in the backfield. It was a great game."

Taking the bulk of the carries, fullback Maurice Moore finished the night with 150 yards on 23 carries and a touchdown. Moore's touchdown, on a one-yard run, gave Charleston its biggest lead of night at 18-8 with 4:55 to play in the first half.

"We worked real hard all week to get our plays down real well and it worked tonight," Moore said. "All the backs ran hard. Even the quarterback ran hard, we just kept pushing each other and not letting each other down just trying to get this 'W'."

For the Blackcats, who were without star running back Frank Abate, Johnson got the bulk of the work, scoring twice through the air and once on the ground while collecting 276 yards combined through the air and on the ground.

Herculaneum rushed for 219 yards and threw for 148 for a total of 367 yards on offense.

Herculaneum 8 6 14 0 - 28

Charleston 6 12 8 8 - 34

SCORING SUMMARY

First Quarter

C -- Jamaul Gray 59 run (pass failed), 11:40

H -- Dustin Johnson 7 pass from Blake Womacks (pass good), 10.9 sec

Second Quarter

C -- Mike Hull 1 run (run failed), 7:20

C -- Maurice Moore 1 run (run failed), 4:55

H -- Aaron Fuller 4 pass from Blake Womacks (pass failed), 52.3 sec

Third Quarter

H -- Dustin Johnson 15 pass from Blake Womacks (pass failed), 5:16

C -- Jamaul Gray 50 run (run good), 14.9 sec

H -- Dustin Johnson 75 run (pass good), 1.7 sec

Fourth Quarter

C -- Rontavius Clark 46 run (run good), 10:26

TEAM STATISTICS

H C

Rushes-Yards 36-219 53-415

Comp-Att-Int 14-25-1 1-1-0

Passing Yards 148 5

Total Yards 367 420

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

Rushing

Herculaneum -- Billy Duncan 6-37, Dustin Johnson 24-198, Blake Womacks 6-(-16). Charleston -- Jamaul Gray 11-162, Maurice Moore 23-150, Rontavious Clark 9-79, Mike Hull 9-16, Robert Bogan 1-8.

Passing

Herculaneum -- Blake Womacks 14-25-148. Charleston -- Mike Hull 1-1-5.

Receiving

Herculaneum --Aaron Fuller 4-28, Dustin Johnson 5-76, Zach Hellmer 3-23, No. 84 1-18, Alex O'Toole 1-3. Charleston -- Sumner Foster 1-5.