Loeffler's Link

Roberson, Jays outlast Hannibal

in heart-stopping 30-27 victory

Aug. 31, 2018

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. --- On the first play of the second quarter Friday night ... touchdown, Jays!

Seconds later, the skies opened up. You could speculate that God was crying tears of joy, because the Jefferson City Jays had finally scored --- after five scoreless quarters to open the season, the Jays had finally scored. There would be no shut out on this night.

So there's some good news.

Even better news was coming ... much better news. Maybe tears of joy weren't in order, but there had to be smiles in that locker room wider than the Missouri River.

In a game that featured a truly odd finish, Devin Roberson ran for two touchdowns and threw for two more as the Jays turned back the Hannibal Pirates 30-27 at Adkins Stadium.

"We found a way to win," said first-year Jays coach Terry Walker. "It was not pretty and we made a bunch of mental mistakes and we weren't real disciplined on some plays, but the kids kept battling and I'm proud of them for that.

"They could have folded that last couple of minutes, but they didn't."

We'll begin at the end.

This was the second straight heartbreaking loss in as many weeks for the Pirates (0-2), who lost a 35-34 thriller to the Helias Crusaders last week in Hannibal.

In this one, the Jays (1-1) trailed 27-22 in the fourth quarter and faced a third-and-13 from their own 14 with under 10 minutes left.
The snap went through the hands of Roberson, who was in the shotgun, but he was able to chase it down at the two.

This turned out to be the No, no, no ... yes! play of the game, as Roberson found a wide-open Devin White, who produced a 47-yard gain inside the Hannibal 40.

The Jays later moved it to the Pirates' one, where they had it first-and-goal. A gimme? Well, two plays and one penalty later, it was third and goal from the 24

Lo and behold, Roberson lofted a strike to Levi Jobe for the touchdown, finishing off an 84-yard march in 15 plays and the Jays led 30-27 with 3:18 left.

"We thought we could get it over the top on their cornerbacks and safeties, if we had enough time," Walker said. "We brought in an extra blocker, we got some protection, Devin made a good throw, the catch was made, and the rest is history."

That drive also burned almost 7 1/2 minutes off the clock, leaving the run-heavy Pirates with just over three minutes to work with.

Hannibal still drove it down the field, until they faced a fourth-and-nine from inside the Jefferson City 20 with 55 seconds left. That's when senior quarterback Gabe Worthington tossed a strike to Lawson  Rickey for the go-ahead and likely game-winning touchdown.

But --- BUT --- Hannibal had called timeout a millisecond before the snap.

Oops.

On the ensuing play, Worthington was forced to scramble and run, but he was stopped a yard short of the first down.

"You could see during parts of the game," Walker said, "that there were some question marks in our kids' minds ... Can we do this? Can I play this next play? Some of the kids answered some of those question marks."

Hannibal led 7-0 after one quarter and 21-15 at the break. Both of the first-half scores for the Jays came on 1-yard runs by Roberson --- the first marked the first time since the opening minute the opener against Kirkwood that Jefferson City wasn't trailing; the second gave the Jays their first lead of the young season.

"Devin played incredibly hard," Walker said, "but we've got to be able to get the ball out of his hands, we can't ask him to do that every game. We have to come up with a couple physical running backs who are a threat."

The first touchdown pass for Roberson, who threw for 226 yards, came on a 39-yarder to a hard-running Ryan Brooks to give the Jays a 22-21 lead in the third quarter.

"I'm happy for the kids, there's no such thing as a bad win," Walker said. "But we've got a lot of things to work on."

Jefferson City will continue to follow Helias down the path of the 2018 season, as the Jays will host Hickman --- which the Crusaders beat 34-14 on Friday night --- next Friday at Adkins Stadium.

Under the watchful eye of head coach Terry Walker, Jefferson City Jays quarterback Devin Roberson (6) looks for running room during the second quarter of Friday night's game with Hannibal at Adkins Stadium.