Jags rally turned away in final minute of Camellia Bowl
Head coach Joey Jones, nose bleeding on the sidelines after an accidental kick to the face as a player tumbled out of bounds, continued to coach on the sideline even while trainers tried to dress the wound.
Head coach Joey Jones, with cuts on his nose and chin, was proud of his team after the Jaguars hard fought loss to Bowling Green in the programs first-ever bowl game, 33-28.
He was disappointed about the score, but there wasn’t much to be disappointed about. “We are a brand-new program and they’ve probably got a few more players than we do,” said Jones, who was accidentally kicked in the face on the sideline. “There we are, a minute and 10 seconds left and we’re up against a program that’s had football for probably 100 years. There are some positives to this but I don’t like losing.”
The Falcons controlled the game from the opening kick, despite most of the 20,256 fans at the Cramton Bowl cheering for the Jaguars. They took their opening possession 65 yards on seven plays in just 2:21 to quickly score the first points of the game.
Bowling Green would double their score on their next possession after quarterback James Knapke connected with Gehrig Dieter for a 53 yard strike to Jaguar 4 yard line. Travis Green would punch it in to make it a 14-0 game.
South Alabama would respond on a Kendall Houston 44-yard touchdown run to cut the Falcons lead to 14-7. The Jaguar defense would settle in and only allow Bowling Green two field goals of 39 and 22 yards respectively for a halftime score of 20-7.
The Jaguars would put the first points on the board in the second half with a 15 yard touchdown run to get within six points, 20-14. But the Falcons answered right back after a short, pooch kick would be fielded by Austin Valdez and returned 30 yards to start the possession in Jaguar territory. Just five plays later, Greene would dice his way through the Jaguar defense for a 17 yard touchdown giving the Falcons a two score lead, 27-14.
In the fourth quarter, Brandon Bridge would connect with DeMarrion Buford-Hughes for an 18-yard touchdown, the first TD reception in his career, to crawl within six points again, 27-21, with 11:23 left in the game.
Another pooched kickoff would be returned to near mid-field for the Falcons. The drive would go deep into Jaguar territory before an defensive pass interference call would set up the Falcons for a first-and-goal at the 1-yard line. Greene tried three times and each time was turned away by the Jaguars determined defense.
After a time out, Falcon head coach Dino Babers would decide to put points on the board and make it a two-score game. Knapke, also the holder for the field goal unit, looked around after the time out and placekicker Tyler Tate was nowhere to be found. He sprinted onto the field late, quickly set up for the attempt and seemed to gather himself before the kick. The kick came off of his foot low despite being less than an extra point attempt and a big Jaguar paw got on it to give the Jaguars new life with 8:25 left in the game.
Both teams would trade punts before South Alabama started moving the ball late. They put together an eight play, 73 yard drive with Terrance Timmons slicing into the end zone for a 28-21 lead with about 1:20 left in the game.
The Falcons would take the deep kickoff out to the 22 yard line. Then on the first play, Knapke would heave a long pass for Roger Lewis to run under, outpacing Roman Buchanan, for the game-deciding 78-yard touchdown. A two-point conversion attempt failed leaving the Falcons up 33-28 with just over a minute remaining.
Bridge, who played much better in the second half than the first, would toss an interception to all but seal the win for the Falcons. Using all of their timeouts, the Jaguars forced the Falcons to punt, but a flag for roughing the kicker would finally seal the game for Bowling Green.
Knapke was named the game’s MVP after going 25-of-39 for 368 yards and two touchdowns. Lewis finished the game with 137 yards receiving on four catches with two touchdowns. Dieter led the Falcons with seven catches for 108 yards. Ronnie Moore had five catches for 61 yards before being disqualified from the game for targeting when he led with the crown of his helmet on a collision with Jereme Jones on punt coverage. Fred Coppet led the Falcons on the ground with 70 yards rushing with Greene adding 41 and two scores.
Brandon Bridge was 4-of-14 in the first half for 54 yards. But after a strong second half he would finish 20-of-37 for 279 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions. Kendall Houston led the rushing attack with 53 yards. Danny Woodson led the team with 122 yards on six catches.
The Falcons amassed 500 yards of total offense while the Jaguars gained 415. Bowling Green also held a 34:25 to 25:35 advantage in time-of-possession.
South Alabama ends the season with a 6-7 record while Bowling Green finishes 8-6.
Comments
2 Responses to “Jags rally turned away in final minute of Camellia Bowl”
almost! :)
So close. They played their hearts out. I think between the fans and how we played, bowl committees will be more inclined to give us a chance.