As the clocked ticked down to 11 seconds, the vibe at Hovey Field where Thomas Jefferson was hosting Kettle Run in the Region 3B championship on Friday night quickly shifted.
The Vikings had just mounted a comeback, but Colton Lubbe put an end to any remaining hope, picking off senior QB/CB Rashaud Cherry to help the Cougars hold on to win 35-32.
Thomas Jefferson trailed by 11 points with less than five minutes remaining, but the Vikings (12-1) never quit.
“It takes a determination and a love that we’ve had for each other all season long, all offseason,” Thomas Jefferson coach Eric Harris said.
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“We’ve absolutely bought in. These guys played for each other, and you witnessed that at the end. There was no wavering. We knew we were making mistakes. We knew we were able to come back and they stick to it and did.”
The Vikings trailed 28-24 at halftime.
Kettle Run (13-0) scored the only points in the third quarter, courtesy of a Jonathan Taylor rushing touchdown to make it 35-24 at the 2:49 mark.
The lead held until Cherry found the end zone for a 4-yard touchdown and converted the 2-point try to cut the lead to three. It was a drive where the Vikings had to step up big, and they did just that.
Cherry had a 44-yard completion to junior receiver David Miller immediately followed by a 40-yard pass to junior receiver Amare Gough.
The Vikings forced a punt to get the ball back, and Cherry picked up a clutch first down on a fourth-and-2 to extend the drive. Following a defensive pass interference and a Cherry rush, Thomas Jefferson was set up well at the Kettle Run 12 with 17 seconds left as it used its final timeout.
On the next play, Cherry was picked off to seal the contest.
The second half featured only two touchdowns in a defensive battle. The first half was almost the polar opposite with 52 combined points.
“Defensively, I think their formations confused our guys in the first half,” Harris said.
“They only scored once or twice in the second, as we did as well. I think the formations caught us off-guard and some of our guys were trying to figure out where they should go, but they caught up with it. At the end, we started confusing them.”
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Who else but Cherry to get the party started? He punched in a 1-yard touchdown run to take the early lead, but the Cougars responded in a big way.
Taylor scored from 1 yard out and Jacob Mulhern found Braylon Jenkins for a score. On the Cougars’ ensuing possession, a botched punt snap led to a Vikings safety.
Malik Porter had a big kickoff return after the safety, and two plays later, Cherry scored on a 3-yard touchdown run and converted on the 2-point try. That was just one of four touchdowns that came in the final seven minutes of the half.
Kettle Run responded with a Carter Bernatzky touchdown catch from Mulhern, only for Thomas Jefferson to score on its first play from scrimmage when Gough took a screen pass from Cherry for 68 yards.
Less than three minutes later, Colton Quaker scored a 13-yard touchdown to regain the lead for the Cougars.
The loss for the Vikings marks the end of their season but doesn’t take away from their successes.
“I’m extremely happy for everything that we accomplished,” Harris said.
“The end of this game exemplified who we were, even down to the last play. I’m extremely proud of these guys. I’m heartbroken right now because we’ll be losing some really good, tough guys.”
As he did all season, Cherry led the way for the Vikings, scoring four total touchdowns. Whether it was offense or defense, the senior was the guy to watch for the Vikings.
“You can’t replace a Rashaud Cherry or a Zavier Artis,” Harris said.
“Those guys mean the world to me. (Rashaud) has been here as long as I’ve been here, three years since I came back from the first time. He’s been the first guy to buy in and believe in me.”
