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COMPLETE STORY: Jones Rushes For 62 Yards In Red Devil Debut

Chris Hoffman/Highlands Today

Red Devil junior Virgil Cooper walks off the field after Avon Park's 36-0 loss to Bartow.

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By Christopher  Hoffman | Highlands Today

Published: October 21, 2007

BARTOW — The Bartow Yellow Jackets defense resembled a swarm of bees protecting their hive on Friday night, busting through to surround whoever had the ball.

The Avon Park Red Devils found that out on their first play from scrimmage — a three-yard loss by Virgil Cooper, who was swamped by three Yellow Jacket defenders, and fell victim to punishment in the backfield all night long in Bartow's 36-0 victory.

Sophomore tailback Tyre Brooks found the holes in the Red Devil defensive front, racking up 127 yards on 10 carries and a touchdown, while the Yellow Jackets totaled 272 yards on the ground.

The Class 3A Yellow Jackets, who were state semifinalists last season, improved to 4-4 on the season, while Avon Park dropped to 1-6.
Bartow's defensive pressure was relentless in the first half, holding the Red Devils to 61 total yards of offense, forcing three turnovers.

Running back Rodney Smith got the Yellow Jackets on the board on their first possession — punching it in from six yards out for a touchdown. The key play on the opening drive — a 30-yard pass from Christian Clay to tight end Aaron Davis — that put Bartow on the 6-yard line.

Davis made a big play on defense as well, recovering a Red Devil fumble to give Bartow the ball at midfield. Moments later, senior Leo Davilla kicked a 30-yard field goal for a 10-0 lead.

Clay was a dual-threat against the Red Devil defense, using his speed to rush for big yardage or using his strong arm to complete passes when he needed to. Clay put the Yellow Jackets up 23-0 at the half, rushing for a two-yard score at the goal line and throwing a picture-perfect pass to a wide open Malcolm Johnson for a 31-yard touchdown with 4 minutes to play before halftime.

Avon Park, who looked sluggish in the first half, found a silver lining in the second half in the form of junior Chaz Jones.
Jones, who was making his debut as starting tailback after Alvin Hinson went down with an injury moments into the game, was able to zip through the seams in Bartow's defense, rushing for 62 yards on seven carries for an 8.8 yards per carry average.

Red Devil head coach Earnest Perkins was pleasantly surprised by Jones' production against a top-notch defense.
"Chaz has been solid in practice, but tonight, he showed that he has the talent to be on this field," the AP skipper said. "He has good field vision, but he is still raw and will only get better."

Jones gave something for the Avon Park fans, who made the drive from Highlands County, something to cheer about, breaking for the Red Devil's longest play of the night — a 37-yard off-tackle burst into Bartow territory.

A 15-yard unsporstmanlike penalty by the Yellow Jackets gave Avon Park the ball on the Bartow 27-yard line, but, like so many turn of events this season for the Red Devils, a tipped pass by Albert Moses was intercepted at the goal line.

Moses returned to the starting quarterback position, after being demoted to receiver and utility back after the second game of the season. The junior was impressive, going 5-for-12 for 48 yards, but was picked off twice at the goal line.
After the game, a smiling Perkins comforted his young protege.

"I went up to him [Moses] and said, 'thank you,' " Perkins said. "He took the demotion and never complained. For what he's gone through this season, he came up big for us. He's really improved since where he was at the beginning of the season."

"This season has been hard on all of us," Moses said. "We worked our way to get back and I really feel that this team is headed in the right direction."
Bartow was scheduled by Perkins to be a warm-up for their game against district foe DeSoto, who trounced Sebring 34-6 on Friday — a chance for his team to face a quality opponent before a game that counts in the district standings.

"This game really helped us tremendously," Perkins said. "I put this game on the schedule so we could experience the same type of football team we are going to face against DeSoto. I believe that you can't get better by playing weaker teams."

The loss, even if a non-district match, still stings and is felt by everyone on the team. The hunger for a win is on the taste buds of all the Red Devils.
"Everybody on this team wants to win — coaches and players," Hinson said. "I think we played really good against them [Bartow]. This game will go along way in getting us ready for the biggest game of the season next week against DeSoto.

"Our mindset is that this is far from over and teams better not overlook us."
The Red Devils will need a win against DeSoto to have a chance at the playoffs.
Avon Park travels to DeSoto to face the Bulldogs at 7:30 p.m. next Friday.

Avon Park High School Football Photo Gallery

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