FRUIT COVE-With his team trailing 14-0 in the biggest game of the year, Switzerland Point turned to its go-to guy in tailback Aaron Jones and he delivered.
Jones (231 yards on 24 carries) responded with two second half touchdowns, including the game winner with 2:10 remaining to help No. 3 Switzerland Point (7-2) stun No. 4 Landrum (7-2) 21-14 Thursday in the St. Johns Middle School Athletic Association title game at Plantation Park.
His efforts were needed after Landrum jumped out to a quick 14-0 lead with less than two minutes remaining in the first quarter.
Early on, Swiss Point had no answer for Landrum quarterback Caden Fordham and the Lions spread assault.
Fordham connected with Jaden Heath in stride for a 58 yard touchdown reception on the games third play from scrimmage to give the Lions a 7-0 lead just seconds into the game.
Three possessions later, the Raiders blocked the Lions punt inside the 20-yard line but couldn’t take advantage of the great field position. Swiss Point decided to go for it on fourth and 9 and Jones was held to a 1 yard gain turning the ball over on downs.
Landrum took advantage of the situation as Fordham found Cameron Edwards wide open for a 54 yard touchdown reception giving the Lions a shocking 14-0 lead with 1:41 left in the first quarter.
However, that’s when Swiss Point began chipping away as Jones took a handoff and went 49 yards untouched two plays later cutting the lead to 14-6 with 48.1 seconds till halftime.
As the fourth quarter started, Jones tied the game on the second play of the quarter breaking a tackle a few yards into the play before racing 21 yards down the left sideline tying the game at 14-14 with 9:06 left in the game.
With a little over three minutes remaining, the Raiders got the ball back after its defense forced another three and out series on the Lions.
Three plays later, Jones rumbled 67 yards down the left sideline untouched putting the Raiders ahead 21-14 with a little over two minutes remaining in the game.
After picking apart Swiss Point in the second half, Fordham was under heavy pressure for nearly all of the second half and left the game with six minutes left in the game after leaping over a defender and getting nailed on a play.
Without Fordham, Landrum still had one final drive and drove inside the 30-yard line thanks to a wild cat offense; but the Lions Hail Mary pass was picked off short of the goal line setting off a huge celebration on the Raiders sideline.
The win helped avenge a lost last year in the title game as the Raiders were a late missed field goal from winning back-to-back county titles.
Neither team was suppose to be there but that didn’t matter to either team playing in the 2016 St. Johns Middle School Athletic Association title game.
To get to the title game, both teams pulled off stunning upsets in the semi-finals.
For the second straight year, the two top seeds were upset in the semi-finals.
No. 4 Landrum knocked off No. 1 Fruit Cove, who was undefeated at the time, 36-24 Nov. 2 at Plantation Park.
No. 3 Switzerland Point throttled No. 2 Gamble Rogers 38-14 Nov. 3 at Gamble Rogers in the other semi-final game.
Both teams also had to win first round games also as Swiss Point beat No. 6 Sebastian 28-0 and Landrum beat No. 5 Pacetti Bay 45-14. Both top seeds No. 1 Fruit Cove and No. 2 Gamble Rogers had first round byes, something both coaches might agree actually proved to be a big difference.
