Football: West Boca Raton 24, Olympic Heights 14

Friday, November 07, 2008
by Chuck King

West Boca Raton running back Marquis Jones struggled to make it back to the bench in the first quarter Friday night.

A sideline shower rejuvenated the sophomore running back, who carried West Boca (5-5) to a 24-14 victory over Olympic Heights (4-5) in the Battle of West Boca.

"He took off his Under Armor, we rinsed him down and he came alive. Maybe he didn't take a bath for a couple of days," West Boca coach Willie Dodaro joked.

Trudging across Olympic Heights' sandy field and through the Lions' defensive line, Jones delivered the two biggest touchdowns of the night.

His 3-yard touchdown run just before halftime broke a 7-7 tie, sending the Bulls to the locker room with a lead they wouldn't relinquish. Jones' 38-yard touchdown burst with 11 minutes remaining in the game sealed the victory.

"That's the best game I've played so far," Jones said.

Olympic Heights had opportunities to pick up its first victory over West Boca, but quarterback Cole MacDonald threw two interceptions that halted drives.

MacDonald threw a screen pass into the arms of defensive end Charles Homoky in the final minute of the first half, giving the Bulls the ball at the Lions' 49. Three plays later, quarterback John Blalock found Michael Bernard behind the Lions' secondary.

"I was waiting on it," Bernard said of the pass that set up Jones' 3-yard score. "It was a pretty pass. I had to catch it."

Trailing by seven but poised to tie the game in the third quarter, MacDonald misfired to West Boca defensive back Daniel Booth in the end zone to end the threat.

"We know we were going to bend a little bit on defense," Lions coach Mitch Henghold said. "We knew they'd score some points. I just figured we'd score when we had the opportunities."

The turnovers negated a powerful rushing night from Antoine Kirkland. Playing his final home game, the senior rushed for 170 yards on 22 carries, including a 60-yard touchdown on his final carry of the night.

West Boca started the scoring on its opening drive, marching 75 yards on 12 plays. Blalock emerged from the center of Olympic Heights' pass rush to scramble the final 13 yards.

Olympic Heights tied the game in the closing minutes of the second quarter when MacDonald connected on his only completion of the night, a 67-yard pass to A.J. Messina.

Olympic Heights concludes its season next week at Vero Beach. West Boca's season is complete.