Junior receiver Walter Jones spent much of Friday night begging St. Rita’s coaches to call a deep pass to him.
Jones said he asked enough that it started to be annoying. But when the game was on the line, the coaches dialed up the deep shot and Jones delivered.
“In the beginning of the game, I was telling (offensive coordinator John Nee) to run that play,” Jones said. “I kept telling him. He was getting frustrated with me.
“Then at the end of the game, I just gave him a look on the sidelines. We ran that route, and it was money.”
Money, indeed. Jones hauled in a pass from Steven Armbruster and broke free for an 80-yard touchdown with 1:06 left, lifting the Mustangs to a 14-7 win over host Brother Rice in a CCL/ESCC crossover game in Chicago.
Armbruster completed 11 of 19 passes for 203 yards and two TDs, including a 58-yard scoring strike to Lucas Davis for St. Rita (2-1). Cormac Lacy and Killian Lacy each had a sack and Justin Buckner made several key tackles.
Jaylin Green ran for 85 yards on 10 carries and Tyler Lofton added 84 yards on 11 carries for the Brother Rice (1-2). Charlie Stec had two sacks and Conner Stack provided two tackles for loss.
The Crusaders tied the game 7-7 with 1:30 left when junior quarterback CJ Gray ran for a 1-yard TD on fourth-and-goal.
The Mustangs answered right back thanks to Jones, who has emerged as a big-time playmaker, according to St. Rita coach Martin Hopkins.
“He’s a very special athlete,” Hopkins said. “We had him playing corner at the end of the half, too. He’s one of those guys we can put anywhere and he’s always going to give all his effort.
“For a young guy, he operates more maturely than his age. Kudos to him. He does his job in the run game and he gets his pay days in the pass game.”
On the winner, Jones broke open over the middle of the field and caught a dart from Armbruster.
“I saw (the defensive back) and I didn’t think he really knew what he was doing,” Jones said. “I just ran a seam and a post, made a move at the top of my route, and it was just green grass from there.
“I knew I was gone. Eyes get big. Just run to the end zone.”
Jones emerged as the hero on a night when much of the talk from the crowd on both sides surrounded another receiver. Jimmie Maxson III transferred from St. Rita before the season and has been a big-play threat for Brother Rice.
The Mustangs, however, held Maxson to only one catch for three yards. He was defended most of the night by junior defensive back Langston Smith.
“It was definitely personal,” Smith said. “It makes us want to beat them even more knowing that one of our former teammates went to that side. We had to show him why he shouldn’t have left.”
The game was scoreless into the third quarter before Armbruster’s 58-yard TD pass to Davis.
Then came the frantic final 90 seconds, when Jones was geared up to put the win away.
“Sometimes, I just know I’m the fastest player on the field,” Jones said. “I use my speed to my advantage.”
Jones has been doing that since he was 8 years old, when his football career was launched in a very unlikely place.
“I was running around in Sam’s Club, and a football coach saw me and told me to come out,” he said.
Armbruster sure is thankful for that chance meeting.
“He’s good everywhere,” Armbruster said of Jones. “His routes are elite, and he’s also lethal in the jet-sweep game. He can really do everything.”
