ROGERS -- The fourth quarter belonged to Jefferson City, Mo. Friday night.
Jeff City scored 21 unanswered points the final 10 minutes of the game as the Jays rallied to defeat Rogers High 28-24 at Whitey Smith Stadium.
Nonconference
Jefferson City 28, Rogers 24
Jeff City^0^7^0^21^—^28
Rogers^0^17^7^0^—^24
Second Quarter
Rog — Freeland 17 run (Lopez kick), 11:11
Rog — FG Lopez 35, 4:10
Jeff — Roettgen 49 pass from See (Bohlken kick), 3:29
Rog — White 20 run (Lopez kick), 43.9
Third Quarter
Rog — Lee 2 run (Lopez kick), 36.2
Fourth Quarter
Jeff — See 18 run (Bohlken kick), 10:19
Jeff — Wilson 13 run (Bohlken kick), 6:57
Jeff — Huff 14 pass from See (Bohlken kick), 2:19
Rogers took a 24-7 lead with under a minute remaining in the third quarter, but Jeff City scored on its last three possessions of the game. Jeff City quarterback Gunnar See hit Adam Huff for a 14-yard touchdown for the game-winner with 2 minutes, 19 seconds left in the game.
Rogers drove from its own 23 down to the Jeff City 10, but backup quarterback Max Horton couldn't connect with Jake Benninghoff on the final play of the game as the Jays escaped with the win.
Rogers finished with 382 yards of offense, including 323 rushing. Quarterback Joesph Sultemeier rushed 13 times for 92 yards, while Malacio Freeland rushed eight times for 79 yards.
"With the lead we had late in the game and not be able to finish, very frustrating," said Rogers coach Shawn Flannigan. "But we finally may have found ourselves and found our team a little bit. We have guys that are capable of making plays and doing things."
See was 15 of 16 passing for 199 yards and two touchdowns. See also had an 18-yard touchdown run that cut the Rogers (0-3) lead to 24-14. See was 6 of 7 passing for 53 yards in the fourth quarter.
"We finally got rolling," said Jeff City coach Ted LePage. "Rogers got after us a little more than we wanted to, but our kids are resilient. We didn't play good for three quarters, but we will take the fourth quarter."
Rogers scored its first points in the first half this season when Freeland capped a 13-play, 80-yard drive with a 17-yard touchdown run in the second quarter. Freeland also had a 16-yard run on the drive while Grayson Lee added a 15-yard run.
The Mounties then upped the lead to 10-0 when Chris Lopez was good on a 35-yard field goal with 4:19 before halftime.
But Jeff City quickly got on the scoreboard when See completed a three-play, 80-yard drive with a 49-yard touchdown pass to tight end Allan Roettgen.
Rogers then took a 10-point lead at halftime when Sage White ended a quick eight-play, 79-yard drive with a 20-yard touchdown run. Oscar Iraheta keyed the drive with runs of 28 and six yards.
Rogers then seemed to take control when Lee rushed in from the two with 36.2 seconds left in the third quarter. But See and Jays went to work in the fourth quarter to rally for the win.
Sports on 09/19/2015