Penalties, late touchdowns doom Cards in gridiron loss at Joburg
Johannesburg-Lewiston scored two touchdowns in just over a minute early in the fourth quarter Friday to turn a slim, 20-14, lead into a 32-14 victory over visiting Onaway.
The loss dropped the Cardinals’ record to 2-5 heading into tonight’s (Friday’s) homecoming clash with visiting Central Lake. Joburg improved to 5-2 with its fourth straight victory.
OHS played well at times, keeping things close against a tough opponent, but as has been the case throughout the season, penalties crippled the Cards, who once again committed more than 10 infractions, including five personal fouls.
“The boys played hard, but we just ran out of gas,” said coach Jim Cleaver. “I’m proud of how hard we played, but we have to stop giving away yards with the penalties. Joburg is too good a team to give away yards.”
J-L opened the scoring with a five-yard touchdown run by Nick May. The conversion attempt failed, but with 5:26 remaining in the opening quarter the home team led 6-0.
Ethan May added to the lead with a five-yard TD run with 10:59 left in the first half. Brandon Huff connected with Andrew Gross on the conversion attempt to make it 14-0 in favor of Joburg.
Onaway got on the board when Carlos Bautista, who got the start at quarterback before giving way to Matt Tollini midway through the third quarter, hit Tommy Auger with an eight-yard TD pass.
The extra point was blocked, but with 6:29 left in quarter two the Cardinals trailed just 14-6. The score stayed that way until, with 3:24 left in the third quarter, Logan Huff scored from two yards out to make it 20-6.
Tollini connected with Bautista on a 41-yard touchdown pass, then found Auger on the conversion, to narrow the gap to 20-14 with 1:38 remaining in the third.
Needing a stop to give the offense the chance to tie, or take the lead, the Cardinal defense was unable to get one. Instead, Ethan May sprinted in from 53 yards to put his team up 26-14, with 11:17 left in the game.
J-L then recorded one of its three interceptions, returning the pick to the OHS 10-yard-line. A few plays later, Nick May charged in from three yards out to bring about the final score.
Bautista completed 8-of-13 passes for 93 yards, while Tollini completed 5-of-11 throws for 83 y
Tollini had 21 rushing yards, while Noah Bacon had 18, and Jamal Porter had 16. Joe O’Bradovich had 20 receiving yards.
Tollini led the defense with 19 tackles. Bautista and Chris Cleaver had 11 tackles apiece, while Bacon and DJ Fenstermaker each had seven, and Auger, Porter, and Frankie Ramos all had six.
Central Lake comes into OHS with a record of 3-4, and with hopes of earning a playoff spot with consecutive wins to end the season. Onaway was eliminated from playoff contention with the loss to Joburg.