Late TD Leads Orlando Jones Past Lake Wales

Sat. September 01, 2012 at 12:51 a.m. | By Polk Preps Staff

By JAMES BENNETT

LEDGER CORRESPONDENT

ORLANDO | Lake Wales' hopes of spoiling Orlando Jones' first night in its new campus stadium came up one minute short.

Thanks to a dramatic last minute drive, and three Lake Wales turnovers, the Tigers beat Lake Wales 20-17 in their first game at Booker T. Reddick Field.

"We just can't make the mistakes we made," Lake Wales head coach Rod Shafer said. "They're a good football team that played hard, we just beat ourselves tonight."

Tigers were led by quarterback Jaquan Young, who completed 22-of-29 passes for 189 yards and a touchdown.

The Highlanders intercepted Young twice in the second half before Young led the Tigers to the game-winning touchdown with in the final minute of play.

On the Tigers' final drive, Young completed five of six passes for 77 yards to set up the game-winner. Lake Wales had a chance to end the drive when Lake Wales defensive back Darion Staten nearly came up with an interception of a Young pass.

Facing fourth down with 1:05 left, Young threw a fade route in the end zone to receiver Tyrian Taylor that was deflected by two Highlander defenders. Then a flag, the fifteenth of the game, hit the turf, declaring pass interference on Lake Wales.

On the next play, Tigers running back T.J. Bryant broke the plane and scored the go-ahead touchdown with 56 seconds left.

"We just fought hard," Jones coach Jerry Howard said. "We started slow, but we just didn't quit and stayed in good enough condition to win."

Earlier in the fourth quarter, Highlander quarterback Railond Garrett had given Lake Wales a 17-14 lead on a 5-yard touchdown run with 11:35 to play. Jones, however, stacked its defense against the Highlanders' running game throughout the rest of the quarter.

It was a tough way for us to lose a game, but we have one of the toughest schedules in the state," Shafer said. "So we're going to focus on getting better."

Lake Wales hosts Lake Gibson next Friday.

Lake Wales           0 7   3 7 — 14

Orlando Jones     0 0 14 6 — 20

Second Quarter

LW — Tony Reeves 17 pass from Garrett Railond (Tate Mathewson kick), 1:31

Third Quarter

OJ — Tyrian Taylor 12 pass from Jaquan Young (run failed), 10:18

OJ — Mike Miller 17 interception return (Emanuel Williams pass from Jaquan Battle), 8:48

LW —Tate Mathewson 28 FG, 2:02

Fourth Quarter

LW — Railond Garrett 5 run (Tate Mathewson kick), 11:35

OJ — T.J. Bryant 2 run (run failed), 0:56