There’s an old saying in football circles that states: “It doesn’t matter that you’re ahead in the game if you’re not ahead when the clock reads 0:00.”
The Thomas County Central Yellow Jackets faced their toughest test of the 2023 season as the home-standing Rome Wolves led the class 6A quarterfinal matchup with Central for the entirety of the game until junior Drew Reneau nailed a 31-yard field goal as time expired to give the #1 ranked Yellow Jackets a heart-stopping 16-13 win.
“We knew this was going to be a very hard-fought game,” an excited head coach Justin Rogers said after the contest. “Their team is built very much like ours, with a defense that flat gets after it and a solid offense. They kept us a little off balance with our offense, but our defense and special teams kept us in it and we found a way to win.”
The game started roughly for the visitors, as Rome took the opening kickoff all the way to midfield. The drive would see the Wolves successfully convert a 4th down play to keep the ball and would end with senior quarterback Reese Fountain running an option play untouched from the Central 12-yard line. With the PAT, Rome led 7-0.
Central’s offense sputtered on its first drive, and the Yellow Jackets were forced to punt. However, the Yellow Jacket defense created the first of several Rome turnovers to give Central a chance for points. On 1st and 10 from their own 29-yard line, Central sophomore sensation Cam Brooks crashed in from his defensive end position and dislodged the ball from Fountain as he was attempting to hand it off. The Yellow Jackets couldn’t get a touchdown, but the play set up the first of four field goals for junior placekicker Drew Reneau, this one from 26 yards, and the score was 7-3.
Rome would get their own field goal as the opening quarter ended with the Wolves leading 10-3.
The Wolves and Yellow Jackets would trade field goals in the second quarter with Reneau hitting his from 37 yards as both teams would enter the break with the score 10-6 Rome.
The third quarter would start off nearly disastrous for the visiting Jackets, who received the second-half kickoff. Rome intercepted an errant Jaylen Johnson pass on the Yellow Jackets opening series and returned it down to the Central 11-yard line. The Wolves would move inside the Central 10 before the Yellow Jacket defense bowed their backs and forced Rome to settle for another field goal and a 13-6 lead.
However, things started to turn for Central as the second half moved forward. With Rome players starting to fight cramps, the Yellow Jacket offensive line, which had been stymied by a very physical Rome defensive front, started to establish some push. After Johnson successfully ran for a first down on a 4th and 6 play, senior running back Trey Brenton began finding creases to run through. On 4th down, Johnson hit Brenton with a screen pass from the Rome 6-yard line for a touchdown. With the PAT, the score was tied 13-13.
On the first down of the following possession, the Wolves broke a 60-yard run down inside the Central 20 before the Yellow Jacket defense stiffened again to force a Rome field goal to move the score to 16-13 Wolves.
The fourth quarter would see Central punt to Rome, only to see the Yellow Jacket defense step up once again to force a fumble from at the Wolves 21-yard line. Reneau would hit another field goal from 31 yards to tie the game back up at 16-16.
With less than 3:00 left in the game, on the next Rome possession, Fountain dropped back for a pass and was looking downfield for a receiver. After shucking off his blocker, Brooks would take full advantage of the opportunity, hitting the Rome quarterback and separating him from the ball. Central junior linebacker Jayden Rubbo picked the ball up and ran it to the Wolves 38-yard line.
Led by Johnson, the Yellow Jackets moved the ball down the field, with a key play being a first down conversion on a tough run after a reception by sophomore receiver Tre’von Pringle to put Central inside the Rome 15. With the clock running down, Johnson would run the ball into the middle of the field at the 13-yard line as the Yellow Jackets called their last time out with .03 remaining, setting up a game-winning kick opportunity for Reneau.
Rome called a timeout to freeze the junior placekicker, but it didn’t work. The snap to Hayden Morales was on target, and Reneau’s 30-yard boot split the uprights as time ran out, giving the Yellow Jackets their first lead of the night and a thrilling 19-16 victory.
Brenton would end the night with 83 yards on 27 carries, and Johnson went 9 of 18 for 146 passing yards, 90 of which came in the second half. The tough Yellow Jacket defense held Rome to just three plays of positive yardage in the final half as well to secure the win. Central forced four turnovers from the Wolves.
An incredible showing from the near 2,000 Central fans who made the five-hour drive to Rome affected the game, as the volume level from the Yellow Jacket faithful at times reached over 110 decibels in volume.
“This wasn’t just a win by our team, this was a win by our whole community,” Rogers added. “The support from these fans is incredible, and our kids feed from their energy. I’m just thrilled to be a part of it and excited that we get to move on.”
With the win, Central will move on to the semifinal round of the playoffs against an old familiar foe, the Marist War Eagles. The two teams have met eight times in the past, with the Yellow Jackets victorious in seven of the contests. The game will be played Friday night at 7:30 p.m. at War Eagle Stadium in Atlanta.