But the Gregory-Portland Wildcats still couldn’t keep up with the Joneses.
Junior running back LeMarquis Jones, making his first start of the year, rushed for 222 yards and scored three touchdowns to lead the Killeen Kangaroos over Gregory-Portland 42-21 in a Class 4A Division I Region IV semifinal at the Alamodome on Saturday afternoon.
Killeen gets a rematch with District 25-4A foe Austin Lake Travis in the Region IV final at 2 p.m. Saturday at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium in Austin. The Cavaliers (13-0), last year’s 4A Division II state champions, won the first meeting 50-9 on Sept. 26.
“He’s a Jones boy,” a smiling Killeen coach Sam Jones said of LeMarquis Jones. “I told him somewhere down the line he’s probably kin to us. He really came through today. I’m happy for him and I’m happy for the offensive line.”
The younger Jones progressed from third-string running back to starter after Tillman hurt his knee against Lampasas in district play and backup Haskins was dealing with a slight injury.
But Jones looked like he had been the starter all year, picking up 5 yards on his first carry of the game and then three carries later breaking one for 22 yards. That run and a pass from Michael Cummings to Jones helped set up the Roos’ first score - a 1-yard run by Royce Asi that tied the game at 7 early in the second quarter.
“I thought he looked a lot more nervous last week,” Sam Jones said of LeMarquis Jones. “He had a good game this week and settled down, and stayed within himself.”
Once Jones began performing, the Roos (9-4) knew they could compete with the Wildcats, who despite being up only 7-0 were clearly the dominant team in the first quarter. A chop block and a fumble might have cost the Wildcats another easy score and kept Killeen within striking distance, and Jones began to relax.
It was fortunate for the Roos, too, because their defense still was having trouble stopping the Wildcats’ Slot-T offense.
Gregory-Portland (9-4) answered Asi’s score with a seven-play, 70-yard drive that was highlighted by a 27-yard pass from Kyle Fishbeck to Charlie Rossell and ended with a 1-yard touchdown run by Duck Lowrance, his second of the game, to put the Wildcats up 14-7.
But an 8-yard run by Jones tied the game at 14, where it would stay through halftime.
Then in the second half, Jones, who had 59 yards in the first half, and the Roos took off.
Killeen ate up almost half of the third quarter on its opening drive, getting a big run from Jones along with several short ones from him and Cummings. Cummings ended the drive with a 1-yard touchdown run.
The Wildcats used most of the second half of the quarter on their opening drive, putting together an impressive 13-play drive that covered 78 yards, also ending with a 1-yard TD run with 47 left in the quarter.
But the Roos didn’t feel like waiting for the fourth quarter to answer. On second-and-12 from Killeen’s 28, Jones got the call again on a trap play to the left. After clearing the initial hole, he juked one linebacker and used his speed to outrun the secondary for a 72-yar touchdown as the quarter expired.
“First thing on my mind is score,” Jones said. “I just read my blocks and followed the hole. The rest is history. The offensive line did a real good job.”
The rest of the quarter Killeen’s defense shut down the Wildcats, limiting them to 37 yards, 24 on a pass to Travis Stephens. And Jones and the offense couldn’t be stopped, scoring on each of their possessions in the half - an 8-yard run by Jones and a 24-yard run by DuJuan Sylvester.
“We wore them down,” Sam Jones said. “We kept hitting and hitting and finally it started to work for us. This was a great battle between two great teams and I’m happy to be on this side of a game like this.”
mhood@temple-telegram.com
