Jones and American Heritage squared off in some playoff action on Friday, but Jones had to settle for second. They took a 41-31 hit to the loss column at the hands of the American Heritage Patriots. The defensive woes were uncharacteristic for the Fightin' Tigers, who until this matchup were averaging 12.8 points allowed.
Despite the loss, Jones still got an impressive performance from Dereon Coleman, who rushed for 152 yards and three touchdowns on only 14 carries, and also threw for 174 yards on 13 of 22 attempts. Those three rushing touchdowns gave Coleman a new career-high. Jones also got help from Vernell Brown Iii, who showed off his sure hands for 103 receiving yards.
Coleman was just one part of a punishing run game: Jones was unstoppable on the ground and finished the game with 266 rushing yards. The team's really been improving in that area: they've now improved their rushing yard total in three consecutive contests.
It was another big night for Byron Louis, who rushed for 223 yards and two touchdowns while picking up 7.7 yards per carry for American Heritage. Louis really tore up the turf during one magnificent 80-yard run. Malachi Toney was another key player, throwing for 188 yards and one touchdown while completing 88.2% of his passes.
Fightin' Tigers
| 12/13/24 vs American Heritage | 31-41 |
| 12/06/24 vs Naples | 18-7 |
| 11/29/24 vs Vanguard | 27-13 |
| 11/22/24 vs Zephyrhills | 41-19 |
| 11/15/24 vs Lecanto | 42-7 |
The loss snapped Jones' winning streak at 14 games and leaves them with a 14-1 record. As for American Heritage, the victory (which was their 11th in a row) raised their record to 12-2.
As of now, neither Jones nor American Heritage have any future games scheduled.
Article generated by infoSentience based on data entered on MaxPreps
