STARKE, Fla. – Jamie Rodgers felt there were few who were giving his team a chance Friday night against Mandarin, the top team in Class 6A.
Bradford, a 2A school. Good at its level, sure, but against the big boys? The really big boys, a team that, like the Tornadoes, was a win away from a state title last season but at a much higher classification?
It didn’t matter one bit. In a brutal game to Rodgers’ liking, he proved what works against the smaller schools can take down a bigger one. Bradford wore down the Mustangs, displaying a three-headed Wildcat attack in the final quarter that allowed the host Tornadoes to rally and topple Mandarin 18-13 in the Varsity 4 Game of the Week.
“We kept hearing we had no chance, and people asked if we would be shocked if we won,” Rodgers said. “I said, ‘No, I’d be shocked if we lost.’ "
No surprise for Rodgers, then, as Bradford (4-0), fourth in the Varsity 4 Super 10, delivered a pair of fourth quarter touchdowns to come from behind against the Mustangs (3-1). After briefly showing the Wildcat for the first three quarters, Rodgers felt the time had come to use it to full effect in the fourth.
The three wildcat quarterbacks — Jeremiah McKenize, Quez Cason and Branden Williams — combined for 148 rushing yards on 19 carries and all three touchdowns. All but 29 of those yards came in the final quarter.
“A lot of people don’t understand what we’re doing,” Rodgers said. “You hear them in the crowd, they want us to do it (the whole game). Those guys play the whole game on defense, too, every single down.
“They were crowding the box. They were plus-one in the running game, sometimes plus-two. Keep leaning on them, keep leaning on them, get them tired. What happened, strength and conditioning won out. Our guys were able to play there in the end.”
That worked, as Cason played defense, caught three passes as a receiver and then transitioned to the wildcat, scoring both fourth quarter touchdowns and rushing for 40 yards.
“That’s part of the game plan. We did it right. Get the ball to me at the end. Playmaker,” Cason said with a laugh. “We wore them down, but we had to rotate or we would wear out.”
At the same time, the Tornadoes re-asserted their claim as the nastiest defense in the area. Mandarin had come in with consecutive shutouts, but it was Bradford that stifled the Mustangs, holding them to seven three-and-out possessions, including five in the second half.
Mandarin entered the night averaging 230 yards a game. But the Mustangs managed only 18 rushing yards and had only four running plays called in the second half, turning to freshman quarterback Knox Annis.
At times, Annis, who has the reins now after senior Elite 11 player Tramell Jones was lost for the season, looked every bit the prospect. He lead a 61-yard scoring drive in the closing minutes of the first half to give Mandarin a 7-6 lead and then fired a smooth 50-yard scoring pass to Brysen Wright to stretch that lead to 13-6 in the third quarter.
But other times, he looked every bit like a freshman, being picked in the end zone by T.B. Berry and missing on 15 of his 25 passes.
Of course, the team lined up opposite of him had a lot to do with that.
“I knew we would come out and execute,” said Travis Johnson, who had both the Tornadoes’ sacks. “Coach Rodgers and all the staff had us ready. We definitely kept our foot on their necks.”
Brutal term for a brutal game, with the Mustangs penalized 16 times for 127 yards. Several players on both sides needed times out for injuries. Mandarin’s Texas-commit Jaime Ffrench left at the end of the first half and did not return after catching five passes for 54 yards.
At the start of the fourth quarter, Tornadoes special-teamer Grayson Jennings was on the field for a long time before being taken off in an ambulance. Rodgers said Jennings was moving everything and pushing and pulling, answering all the questions asked by medical personnel and seemingly in good spirits.
Aside from that scare, though, it was the perfect game for Rodgers and his team.
“It was a hard-hitting football game,” Rodgers said. “That’s what happens. People limp off when they come here. It was on both sides. That’s what we want — we want those gritty, tough games. People don’t believe it, but we want those on-score football games. Give us a shot in the fourth quarter. We just think our conditioning is going to last.”
(4) Bradford 18, (1) Mandarin 13
Mandarin, 0, 7, 6, 0 — 13
Bradford, 0, 6, 0, 12 — 18
B – Branden Williams 1 run (kick failed)
M – Donte Perry 1 run (Deion Winstead kick)
M – Brysen Wright 50 pass from Knox Annis (kick failed)
B – Quez Cason 4 run (run failed)
B – Quez Cason 6 run (run failed)
Category: M — B
First downs: 6 — 17
Rushes-yards: 14-18 — 51-179
Passing: 158 — 94
Comp-Att-Int: 10-25-1 — 6-12-0
Fumbles-lost: 1-0 — 1-1
Penalties-Yards: 16-127 — 9-75
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — M: Shaunqeze Foster 6-17, Winstead 5-13, Perry 1-1, Knox Annis 2-(-13). B: Jeremiah McKenzie 8-72, Gino Addison 17-67, Cason 6-40, Williams 5-36, Iyen Addison 6-12, Team 3-(-14), Zack Paulk 6-(-24).
PASSING — M: Annis 10-25-1-158. B: Paulk 6-12-0-94.
RECEIVING — M: Jaime Ffrench 5-54, Wright 1-50, Ethan Sherman 2-43, Ayden Owens 1-6, Josiah Watkins 1-5. B: Cason 3-46, Williams 1-17, Elijah Lawrence 1-17, Marlin Haywood 1-14.