Jesuit shuts out Hillsborough in rematch from the regular season
TAMPA — Another shutout, another region title and another shot at a state championship.
Nationally-ranked Jesuit put together a pair of 21-point halves and collected its seventh shutout of the season with a 42-0 victory against Hillsborough on Friday night to claim the Class 6A, Region 3 crown.
For ninth-year Tigers coach Matt Thompson, it was his sixth win in seven region finales.
“That’s pretty good,” said Thompson, whose Tigers play Miami Northwestern at home next week in a state semifinal. “I’ve got a great coaching staff, great kids (and) great support. It makes it easy to do that.
“We’re expected to win the region every year, and we try to get the (top) seed every year. That’s the goal.”
The Tigers’ only state football championship came in 1968 under the late Bill Minahan.
Jesuit (13-0), the top-ranked team in its region and ranked 12th nationally by MaxPreps, had many contributors against No. 7 seed Hillsborough (10-3), which had won its previous eight games since losing 28-7 to Jesuit in September.
Sophomore quarterback Luke Knight completed 13-of-18 for 217 yards and two touchdowns (27 yards to senior Jaydn Girard and 23 to senior Junior Vandeross); junior running back Joquez Smith rushed for 100 yards on 20 carries and three 1-yard touchdowns; and the defense forced four turnovers with the special teams contributing a score on a punt block and recovery in the end zone by sophomore Drew Woodaz.
The Tigers finished with a 351-111 edge in offensive yardage. Hillsborough was playing in its first region final since 2004 and has not won a region crown since 1996.
“Hats off to Earl (Garcia, Hillsborough’s coach),” Thompson said. “They had a lot of injuries.”
Jesuit set the tone by scoring on its first two drives: a five-play, 61-yard march followed by a 10-play, 73-yard push. Knight’s touchdown pass to Girard with 10:08 remaining in the opening quarter put the Tigers ahead for good. Late in the second quarter, Smith scored his second of two first-half touchdowns to cap a 14-play, 79-yard march for a 21-0 lead.
The defense began its flurry of turnovers with 34 seconds left in the half on an interception by senior Wade Woodaz. On Hillsborough’s first series of the third quarter, senior AJ Cottrill stopped a Terriers’ drive at the Jesuit 29 with a fumble recovery to set the tone for the final two quarters.
“We take pride in having shutouts, and all the hard work pays off when you get a shutout,” Cottrill said. “We all show a lot of confidence in our play. We just want to go out and destroy whom we play.”
Seniors Omarion Clark and Caleb Williams added interceptions, and Drew Woodaz blocked a punt and recovered it in the end zone for Jesuit’s final touchdown. A running clock began with 10 minutes remaining after Knight teamed with Vandeross on a touchdown pass.
