Greenwood Coach Rick Jones let his son sleep in Saturday morning.
It’s understandable since junior Kevin Jones had plenty on his plate Friday night at Fort Smith Southside, and did he ever deliver.
Jones earned the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette Feat of the Week by kicking a 23-yard field goal with no time remaining to give Greenwood a 45-42 7A/6A-Central victory and extend the Bulldogs’ winning streak to 46 games, third-longest in Arkansas high school history.
“What a deal,” Rick Jones said.
Kevin Jones, a wide receiver, kick returner and kicker, also completed 2 of 2 passes for 68 yards and 1 touchdown, caught 2 passes for 31 yards, had a 1-yard punt return, punted twice for a 34.5-yard average, kicked off 6 times, with 2 touchbacks, and was 6 of 6 on extra-point attempts.
Jones, 5-9, 162 pounds, is a backup safety but didn’t play defense against the Rebels, Rick Jones said.
“He had lots to do,” Jones said.
He made lots of plays, too.
Jones completed a pass off a fake punt to senior Michael Rhea to the Southside 9, setting up Greenwood’s first touchdown late in the first quarter. Jones gave Greenwood its first lead, 35-28, when he took a lateral and threw a 34-yard touchdown pass to sophomore wide receiver Ryan Padilla with 3:26 left in the third quarter.
Rick Jones said his son was a quarterback in Greenwood’s Pitbulls program (grades 3-6) before moving to wide receiver in the seventh grade.
Kevin Jones became the emergency quarterback this fall after senior standout Jabe Burgess broke his left foot on the eve of fall practice. Junior Reid Wheeler replaced Burgess in the season opener against Sallisaw, Okla., and completed 16 of 22 passes for211 yards and 4 touchdowns in a 49-3 victory.
“Kevin’s got a good arm, but putting my fatherly position aside, Jabe and Reid are just better,” Rick Jones said with a laugh. “That’s just sort of the way it is. Rough, isn’t it?”
Jones’ right arm kept the Class 6A Bulldogs (8-0, 5-0 7A/6A-Central) in the game. It was his right foot that won it.
Southside tied the score, 42-42, on a 1-yard run by senior tailback Quincy Whitfield and a two-point run by senior quarterback Isaac Jackson with 4:07 remaining.
Greenwood’s final possession began at its 24 with 1:28 left.
“A lot of people probably thought we were crazy throwing from our own 20, but I didn’t want to go overtime against them,” Rick Jones said.
In the final minute, senior tailback Hoyt Smith caught a 28-yard pass from Burgess and ran 19 yards to the 6 with two seconds remaining.
“We got to the very edge of Kevin’s range, 42 or 43 yards,” Rick Jones said. “I just thought with one more rushing play that we could get closer. I was just hoping Hoyt would get down before the clock ran out.”
Southside called two timeouts to ice Kevin Jones, who lined up for the 23-yard attempt from what Rick Jones called a “tough angle,” the left hash mark. Jones then bragged on the precision of Greenwood’s field-goal unit, adding its target time to complete the snap, hold and kick is 1.25 seconds or better.
“It was a team effort,” Jones said. “Southside put on a big rush. If it’s 1.4, I think it gets blocked.”
Instead, Kevin Jones, who has a soccer background, kicked his first field goal of the season.
“How about that?” Rick Jones said.
Feat of the week
PLAYER Kevin Jones SCHOOL Greenwood HEIGHT/WEIGHT 5-9, 162 pounds CLASS Junior POSITION WR/KR/PK/P OPPONENT FS Southside PASSING 2 of 2, 68 yards, 1 touchdown RECEIVING 2 catches, 31 yards PUNTING 2 attempts, 34.5-yard average KICKOFFS 6, 2 touchbacks PATS 6 of 6 FGS 1-1, 23 yards
Sports, Pages 23 on 10/30/2013