Crusaders Upset Jaguars

The Robert Toombs Christian Academy Crusaders football team pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the season in GIAA as they edged out the Thomas Jefferson Academy Jaguars 35-34 Friday night in Lyons. The Jaguars came into the game 8-0 overall and 1-0 in Region play. The Crusaders took advantage of four turnovers in the game by the Jaguars to improve to 5-5 overall and 1-0 in the Region.

RTCA got on the scoreboard in the first quarter on their first offensive possession on a 14-yard Elijah Baker run. The two-point conversion was good for an 8-0 lead.

The Jaguars answered with a touchdown run from three yards out with 8:30 left in the first quarter. The two-point try was no good as RTCA held onto an 8-6 lead over the Jaguars.

RTCA held onto that lead throughout the rest of the first quarter, but early inthesecond quartertheJaguarstook the lead with 10:39 remaining on the clock on a 22-yard touchdown run. The two-point conversion was good putting TJ on top, 14-8.

The Crusaders took back the lead when Quarterback T.J. Stanley hit Tripp Durden on a long 84-yard touchdown pass at the 7:11 mark in the period. Kicker Justin Bowers made the extra point to give RTCA back the lead, 15-14, over the Jaguars.

Thomas Jefferson Academy answered with a 10-yard touchdown run with 2:09 left in the quarter. The twopoint conversion was good to give the Jaguars back the lead, 22-15.

The Crusaders threw an interception on their next offensive possession, but just a few plays later they recovered a Jaguar fumble to get the ball back at their own 24-yard line. Baker got a couple of big runs and was quickly across midfield to the 47-yard line. On the next play Stanley connected with Jashaun Powell on a 47-yard touchdown pass with just 1:05 left in the first half. Bowers kicked the point after to tie the game at 22-22 at halftime.

In the third quarter the Jaguars took continued from page

the lead with 4:57 in the period on a 10-yard touchdown run. The two-point conversion was no good putting them on top 28-22.

In the fourth quarter the Crusaders took back the lead on the first play of the period on a 19-yard touchdown run from Baker. Bowers tacked on the PAT to put RTCA up 29-28.

The Jaguars again took the lead back after a long drive with 9:53 remaining in the game on a 3-yard touchdown run. They went for the 2-point conversion but RTCA kept them out, and the score was 34-29 with TJ up on the Crusaders.

The Jaguars fumbled the ball on their next possession with Jayden Toole coming up with it for the Crusaders with just over four minutes left to play in the game. Powell had a big run down to the 10-yard line. Just two plays later Stanley broke free around the left side for a touchdown with just 59 seconds to play. That gave RTCA a 35-34 lead over the Jaguars. RTCA tried for two, but did not get it, but they still held the lead.

RTCA's defense did a solid job on the next series as they forced the ball over on downs with 30 seconds to play. The Crusaders ran out the rest of the clock to take the upset win over Thomas Jefferson, 35-34.

This week RTCA will be back at home to host Memorial Day. The game will be on Thursday night and kickoff is set for 7:00 p.m.