Reynolds Scores In Final Minute To Beat Eisenhower
Tagged under: District 10, Gameday Hub, News, pfn, Playoffs
Shane Lux | November 5, 2024
Hermitage – Gabriel Minjarez’s 4-yard touchdown run with 34 seconds to play lifted Reynolds to a dramatic 26-21 victory over Eisenhower Saturday afternoon at Hickory High School.
Reynolds and Eisenhower have met in the playoffs every year since 2019, but none of those previous contests saw the drama of Saturday afternoon.
“It’s not single a playoff football without Reynolds and Eisenhower squaring off,” said Reynolds head coach Josh Mull. Jim (Penley) and I talked about that last Sunday morning and chuckled about it. They’re a well-coach football program. They play hard and do things the right way. We struggled in the game’s beginning and can’t have those types of letdowns. Ultimately, we put ourselves in a position to win a football game.”
The Raiders defeated the Knights 43-7 in 2019, 27-0 in 2020, 56-27 in 2021, and knocked off Eisenhower in the 2022 District 10 Class A title game 28-14 at Titusville.
In 2023, Eisenhower got their revenge, 34-8 over the Raiders.
“We have changed a lot over the years with these matchups against them, Mull said. “From being a double wing-t and jamming the ball down your throat to being a spread team. Today, we took it to them with a little bit of both.”
You’d expect a close contest with two teams familiar with each other in the postseason. That’s precisely what happened. The Raiders never led in the contest until Gabriel Minjarez scored on a 4-yard touchdown run that capped a 16-play, 85-yard drive that ate up seven minutes of the game clock.
“I was tired, but I knew it had to be done,” said Minjarez. “No one else would get it done, so I just had to do it. It feels great. We did many great things out there today, but we also did many bad things. We knew we needed to step up with Xavier out today, but we also knew Connor could do some things.”
Minjarez 4 yd run, Reynolds 26 Eisenhower 21, 34 seconds to play @BobGreenburg pic.twitter.com/KCrD3t796t
— Shane Lux (@PFN_Luxy) November 2, 2024
The drive was set up by a Knights’ punt that pinned the Raiders at their 15-yard line with just over seven minutes to play.
“The kids said just to keep running zone,” said Mull. “We said we would own the line of scrimmage and get the tough, hard yards.”
Eisenhower never saw the ball again until 25 seconds were on the clock. Reynolds used the old-fashioned three yards in a cloud of dust on their way to the winning score.
When Knights took over at their 44-yard line in the closing seconds, Jacob Rust intercepted Knights quarterback Caleb Jakubszak two plays later to seal the victory.
Reynolds had to overcome a 21-12 second-half deficit as it was Jakubszak scoring on a 33-yard touchdown, putting the Raiders behind by two scores, 21-12, at the 9:36 mark of the third quarter.
Minjarez, the workhorse of the afternoon, capped a 4-play 41-yard drive with a 19-yard run, pulling Reynolds to within 21-20 with 2:32 to play in the third stanza.
Backup quarterback Connor Belback connected with tight end Rocky Floch on the 2-point conversion.
Belback was forced into action after starting quarterback Xavier Zachrich suffered a leg injury in the Raiders’ regular-season finale against Union/A-C Valley.
In relief, Belback completed 1-of-5 passes for negative five yards with a pair of interceptions.
That meant the game would come down to the legs of Minjarez, who rushed for a game-high 212 yards on 36 carries with three touchdowns.
His first touchdown of the night pulled Reynolds to within 7-6 when he capped a 14-play 60-yard drive with a 2-yard run.
Eisenhower had taken a 7-0 lead on the first play of the second quarter when Jakubszak scored on a 1-yard sneak—his 53-yard completion to Tanner Lookenhouse to the 1-yard line set up the score.
Caleb Jakubszak led the Knights, rushing for 113 yards and three touchdowns on 11 carries while completing 5-of-12 passes for 156 yards.
Late in the first half, Jaydon Chase intercepted Belback and returned to the Raiders 42-yard line. On the next play, Jakubszak connected with Gavin Lindenmuth on a 39-yard pass, followed by Jakubszak’s 3-yard run with one tick on the first-half clock.
Jakubczak 3 yd run, 0:01 2nd, Eisenhower 14 Reynolds 6, Halftime @BobGreenburg pic.twitter.com/HmosVTXxnI
— Shane Lux (@PFN_Luxy) November 2, 2024
On the succeeding squib kick, Minjarez picked up the ball and lateraled to Parker Nay, who raced 80 yards down the near sideline for a touchdown with no time left on the first half clock.
“The sad part is that’s how we were supposed to do every kickoff return,” said Mull. “We noticed they were bringing everybody up inside, and I said go for it. Let’s go for broke. We would jailbreak until we turn the ball over or score with those laterals. But fortunately, we got into the end zone. Speed kills, Parker found some open space and got into the end zone.”
Nay also rushed for 46 yards on nine carries.
With the missed 2-point conversion, Eisenhower held a 14-12 halftime lead.
The Knights close out their season at 4-7, and Reynolds moves on to a semifinal matchup with Wilmington. The Greyhounds won the regular season matchup 56-9.
Game Highlights:
Reynolds 26 Eisenhower 21
Score by Quarters
Eisenhower – 0 14 7 0 – 21
Reynolds – 0 12 8 6 – 26
Scoring Summary
Second Quarter
E – Caleb Jakubczak 1 yd run, (Bryston Wilkins pat), 11:57 – 5-81
R – Gabriel Minjarez 2 yd run, (rush failed), 4:08 – 14-60
E – Jakubszak 3 yd run, (Wilkins pat), 0:01 – 2-42
R – Parker Nay 80 yd kickoff return, (rush failed), 0:00
Third Quarter
E – Jakubszak 33 yd run, (Wilkins pat), 9:36 – 6-77
R – Minjarez 19 yd run, (Rocky Floch from Connor Belback), 2:32 – 4-41
Fourth Quarter
R – Minjarez 4 yd run, (pass failed), 0:34 – 16-85
Individual Stats
Rushing: E – Jakubszak 11-113, Ryan Chambers 6-34, Logan Penley 5-12, Gavin Lindenmuth 1-0, Derek Childs 1-10, Team 2-(-8). Totals: 26-161. R – Minjarez 36-212, Nay 9-46, Connor Belback 6-20, Brady Nehlen 1-1, Team 1-0. Totals: 53-279.
Receiving: E – Lindenmuth 2-79, Tanner Lookenhouse 1-53, Penley 2-24. R – Nay 1-(-5).
Passing: E – Jakubszak 5-for-12, 156 yards, 1 INT. R – Belback 1-for-5, (-5) yards, 2 INT.
Interceptions: E – Jaydon Chase, Jakubszak. R – Jacob Rust.
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