Joe Cross entered Friday night without an interception this season, a far cry from the five he posted a year ago. The Spain Park High School senior defensive back had been hearing about the absence of turnovers from inside his own home.
“His mom has been asking what’s wrong with him because he didn’t have any this year,” said Jaguars head coach Tim Vakakes. “I hope she had a good night. Joe was around the football tonight.”
Cross picked the perfect night to end the drought, recording two interceptions — one that stopped a marathon James Clemens’ opening drive at the goal line and another that sealed the game late — as Spain Park powered to a 28-7 victory over the Jets in a non-region matchup.
“It was a relief,” Cross said. “I got the pressure off me and hopefully I can carry it on to next week.”
The Jets (2-3) opened with a 16-play drive that chewed up much of the first quarter, but Cross snuffed it out by barely scooping a ball before it hit the turf at the 1-yard line on third-and-goal.
Spain Park (3-2) nearly capitalized quickly off the turnover with a deep strike from quarterback Brock Bradley to Kena Rego, but a mishandled read option on the next play resulted in a fumble that kept the game scoreless through the opening period.
Momentum finally swung in the second quarter when the Jaguars’ special teams pinned James Clemens deep, then pressured a punt to set up the offense at the Jets’ 21-yard line. Five plays later, Hudson Hibbard plunged in for a short touchdown — his only carry of the first half — to put Spain Park on the board with 6:20 left before halftime.
Bradley struck again just two minutes later. The senior quarterback found Connor Greb streaking behind the defense for a 70-yard touchdown to extend the lead to 14-0 before the break.
Spain Park wasted little time in the second half, marching downfield on its opening possession. Bradley connected with Rego on a precise pitch-and-catch in the corner of the end zone, pushing the lead to 21-0.
James Clemens finally answered behind workhorse running back Anthony Gideon Jr. The junior tailback carried six times on an eight-play, 65-yard march and capped it by leaping over a defender for a 4-yard touchdown run that cut the margin to 21-7 with 4:35 showing in the third. Gideon finished with a game-high 186 yards on 24 carries.
The Jaguars kept control behind Hibbard. The junior quarterback-turned-running back bruised through tacklers for an 18-yard scoring run early in the fourth quarter. Hibbard logged 15 carries in the second half for 77 yards and two touchdowns.
Cross provided the exclamation point with his second interception, snagging a pass with 3:37 remaining to clinch the 28-7 victory.
Spain Park showed balance on both sides of the ball, finishing with 264 passing yards and 123 rushing yards while holding the Jets to just 44 yards through the air and forcing two turnovers. Bradley led the passing attack, completing 13 of 19 throws for 264 yards and two touchdowns.
“These kids care about each other.,” added Vakakes. “Next man up. We put them where we feel like they can make plays. Brock had a good night. Missed a few things, but extended plays and did a lot of good things tonight.”
The Jags have now won three of four meetings between the teams.
Spain Park stays home to host Pelham next Friday, while James Clemens hosts Florence.
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