American Heritage’s Tyler Jones ran for 158 yards and three touchdowns as the visiting Patriots dispatched of Rockledge 31-14 in the teams’ FHSAA Class 5A regional semifinal contest on Friday evening.
“It’s just a team effort,” Jones said. “…Everybody wants to see each other do great. I put my trust in my teammates.”
Jones tallied his first score less than two minutes into the game, capping off a shockingly easy Patriots drive with a 12-yard touchdown run that put American Heritage up 7-0. But he wasn’t the only running back wearing black and gold to score in the quarter as fellow senior Lavelton Williams scored on a 4-yard plunge that doubled the Patriots’ advantage.
Rockledge, who came in as the region’s top-seeded team, would answer, however, as Ladarius Tennison gave the Raiders life with a 73-yard touchdown run to cut the lead in half.
Still, a 52-yard field goal from Jimmy Lowery early in the second quarter that put American Heritage up 17-7 seemed to blunt the Raider momentum. A second touchdown run from Jones, this one from 23 yards out, put the Patriots up three scores at 24-7.
“He’s a special player, little dynamo,” said American Heritage head coach Patrick Surtain. “When you couple him with other backs, it makes for a nice trio we have.”
The Raiders wouldn’t go down quietly as Elias Allen’s 1-yard scoring plunge brought Rockledge to within two scores at 24-14 but that’s as close as the Raiders would come as a tough Patriot defense stiffened late, forcing and recovering a fumble in Rockledge territory.
“Just getting after them,” said Surtain of his team’s defensive effort in containing what has been a largely prolific Rockledge offense. “Our cover guys covered, you know we had trust in them guys to load the box, put 8, 9 guys in the box and we were prepared hard against this team. We knew they had two dynamic players in number 3 [Tennison] and number 5 [Jalen Mitchell] and you know, they made some plays but for the most part we took them away.”
On the first play, Jones scored his third touchdown of the game, this one from 44 yards out to essentially end any chance of a Rockledge comeback and account for the game’s final score at 31-14.
In addition to their success on the ground, the Patriots were able to show balance offensively with junior quarterback Edwin Rhodes completing 9 of 15 passes for 155 yards.
“We ran the ball, we threw when we wanted to, we took care of the ball for the most part and a total team effort,” Surtain added. “….Offense, defense, special teams came through tonight.”
The Patriots will travel next week to face district rival Cardinal Gibbons, who defeated Orlando Jones 30-27.
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