Yellow Jackets Win at JH Rose 34-26, Face Cleveland In Round 2 of 3AA Playoffs

The Lee County Yellow Jackets won a physical battle with JH Rose of Greenville Friday night by a 34-26 score to advance to the 2^nd Round of the NCHSAA 3AA Football Championship.   In a battle of top 15 teams in the state 3A ranks, the Yellow Jackets won their 8^th consecutive game of the season and 35 of 37 under Head Coach Steve Burdeau and set up a rematch of last years 3^rd round game with Cleveland that Lee County won 34-27.

Lee County fell behind early to Rose after a 60-yard touchdown pass only 1:58 into the game to wideout Kevin Hamilton and Rose took an early 6-0 lead.  Lee County answered 2 possessions later with a 24-yard run by TJ Johnson and followed that with a 13-yard run by JoJo Jennings to take a 14-6 lead.   Rose got on the board again with 4:26 in the half and pulled within 14-12.  Lee responded quickly with a 5-play drive that ended with a touchdown pass of 32 yards to Eli Garrison for a 20-12 lead at the break.

Rose pulled within two after a 14-yard pass to Hamilton with 8:42 in the 3^rd, but the Jackets controlled the rest of the 3^rd quarter.  Two straight possessions that started at the 40-yard line ended in 7-play & 8-play drives – both with QB Will Patterson running it in from 1 & 5 yards out to suddenly put Lee County up 34-18 headed to the fourth.   Rose scored with just over 11 minutes left and the Yellow Jackets held tough defensively and made some key first downs in the final minutes to hold off Rose.   JoJo Jennings rushed for 123 yards on 10 carries to lead the Yellow Jacket ground game.  

Lee County 8-0 will face 8-0 Cleveland in Clayton on Friday night.   Game time TBA.

Scoring

Lee County    7     13    14     0     34

JH Rose          6      6       6      8     26

Scoring Summary

RO – Hamilton 60 pass from Jarman (PAT failed)

LC – TJ Johnson 24 run (Kennedy Hernandez kick)

LC – JoJo Jennings 13 run (Hernandez kick)

RO – Jarman 1 run (PAT failed)

LC – Eli Garrison 37 pass from Will Patterson (PAT failed)

RO – Hamilton 14 pass from Jarman (PAT failed)

LC – Patterson 1 run (Hernandez kick)

LC – Patterson 5 run (Hernandez kick)

RO – Hamilton 15 pass from Jarman (2-pt conv good)

Rushing

RO – Brown 15-36, Hamilton 1-6, Jarman 11-23   Totals 27-65

LC – Jennings 10-123, Johnson 16-86, Patterson 7-(-1), Tyric McKendall 1-2  Totals 34-210

Passing

RO – Jarman 25-35-199

LC – Patterson 15-29-183

Receiving

RO – Hamilton 13-180, Geddis 1-5, Grimes 4-4, Brown 6-24, Daniels 1-(-1)  Totals 25-212

LC – McKendall 8-79, Palmer 1-(-2), Garrison 3-57, Jackson Lamb 2-25, Jennings 1-24  Totals 15-183

• Lee County continues to win the turnover battle and did so against Rose by 3-0.   There were no fumbles in the game, but Lee County came up with 3 interceptions by Jackson Lamb, Carlos Hancock and Kenyon Palmer. Hancock now leads the Yellow Jackets with 4 picks on the season.
• JoJo Jennings was named the Norman Financial Group Offensive Player of the Game and Derran McKoy was named the Defensive Player of the Game.
• Lee County was 7 of 11 on 3^rd down conversions and the Yellow Jackets had 21 first downs to 18 for Rose.  
• Join us for the Lee County Coach’s Show Tuesday at 7:00 pm on WFJA 105.5 FM and streaming on the station website.