FORDYCE — Zavier Jones and Micah Gamble reminded the Fordyce faithful the Redbugs’ offense was in good hands — theirs.
Jones turned a fumble on a jet-sweep into a 68-yard touchdown carry to tie the game, and Gamble sprinted 31 yards for the game-winning TD with 11.5 seconds left Friday in Fordyce’s 34-26 victory over Booneville in a 3A state quarterfinal.
The Redbugs (13-0) survived and advanced to their first state semifinals since a runner-up finish to McCrory in 2A three years ago. They will visit either Bismarck or Osceola next Friday.
And their prayers were answered.
“I told Mama — I got them to pray with me before the game, and when we came out at half, I told them pray with me again — I was just taught faith over fear this week,” Jones said. “That’s what it was. Whatever the outcome, if we won, if we lost, it is what it is.”
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Jones, a junior making his first start since freshman Andreal “Cadillac” Ellison Jr. suffered a season-ending knee injury a week earlier, ran 13 times for 182 yards and threw 10 for 12 — completing his last 10 passes — for 91 yards.
When JaMarcus Cranford fumbled a jet-sweep reception, Jones was right there to scoop it up and run 68 yards to knot the game at 26-all with 8:02 left. It was Fordyce’s first score of the second half.
“(A defender) knocked it out. I picked it up. I had seen a hole, and I just ran as fast as I could,” Jones said.
Fordyce forced Booneville (11-2) to punt on back-to-back drives, a big accomplishment after both clubs had scored on their first three possessions. Jones engineered the winning 72-yard march in 3 minutes, 19 seconds, accounting for 22 total yards and handing off to Gamble for his 31-yard scamper down the Bearcats’ sideline for the Redbugs’ only lead. Gamble picked up a low snap and ran into the end zone for the extra 2 points.
“I just saw everybody had good blocks up front, so I just cut it up and ran through the middle,” Gamble said after carrying 11 times for 138 yards.
Booneville was left to try multiple lateral dishes on the game’s final play, but the scramble netted a 4-yard loss.
Jones sprinted 71 yards for a touchdown on the Redbugs’ third play from scrimmage of the night, his first of three scores for which he was responsible.
Junior Hunter Warren rushed for all four Bearcats touchdowns (1, 8, 9 and 15 yards) in the first half. He had 28 carries for 160 yards at the break, with a long of 39 on the Bearcats’ third series.
A 26-yard jaunt by quarterback Jace Washburn set up Warren’s second touchdown carry with 47 seconds left in the first quarter. With 9:44 left in the second, Fordyce overcame back-to-back 5-yard flags with a 14-yard Jones-to-Jamartez Stroud strike. Fordyce was stopped on a 2-point conversion for the second time, staying within 13-12.
Gamble’s 64-yard sprint with 4:25 left was Fordyce’s only play of its third drive. Jones completed a 2-point pass to Keilin Ellison to tie the game at 20.
The Redbugs forced a punt to set up a potential go-ahead drive from their own 33 before the half. Two personal-foul penalties and two complete passes by Jones aided the drive down the Bearcats 1 before a bad exchange with 20 seconds left resulted in a lost fumble.
Booneville took a 26-20 lead late at the 3:23 mark of the third quarter on Warren’s 15-yard burst up the middle. Booneville rushed for 247 yards, throwing 0 for 2.
Fordyce rushed for 365 of its 456 total yards.
The ball bounced Fordyce’s way in its closest victory of the postseason; this time the only adversity the Redbugs faced was a rare deficit at home, and they overcame it.
“That’s kind of been the way our season has been,” 15th-year Redbugs coach Tim Rodgers said. “Last week we get our quarterback hurt and we come out and play better the second half than we did the first half. Tonight, we just made a lot of big plays. We had had some mistakes and all other kinds of stuff happen, but when it came time, we made plays. I’d rather be lucky than good, sometimes.”