Homestead holds off Jones to secure historic first-ever trip to state football finals

The Homestead Broncos galloped into the history books on Friday night, holding off Orlando Jones 30-24 in a nail-biting, Class 3M semifinal, clinching their first-ever state championship game appearance.

Making its first state semifinal appearance since 1984, Homestead (12-2) rallied from a 10-0 first-quarter deficit to score 30 unanswered points to take a commanding 20-point lead in the fourth quarter.

But Jones (11-3) never quit, scoring two touchdowns on big plays – a 67-yard scoop and score, and a 50-yard touchdown pass – to cut the Broncos’ lead to six points with just a few minutes left.

After Jones forced Homestead to punt, the Tigers drove to the Broncos’ 22-yard line before throwing four incomplete passes to end the drive and the comeback.

The wild finish left many players on both sides crying – for joy and disbelief. Homestead now faces St. Thomas Aquinas in the state championship game on Thursday, Dec. 15 at DRV PNK Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, marking the first time that a Broward County team will play a Miami-Dade County team for a state title. It will be one of two such matchups as Miami Central and Plantation American Heritage will also clash in Class 2M.

“We had to fight to the end, and we did,” said Homestead quarterback Joshua Townsend, who threw for 165 yards and two touchdowns, and ran for 59 yards in a superb performance. “This means everything to us.”

The Broncos needed all of Townsend’s heroics, some terrific speed from their playmakers and a bend-but-don’t-break defense, to pull this one out.

Homestead looked outmatched early on. Jones quarterback Chris Tooley went to work on the game’s opening series, engineering a nine-play, 64-yard scoring drive, capped by Jerrian Parker’s 5-yard TD run.

After Homestead punted on its first possession, Jones drove to the Broncos’ 4-yard line before settling for a 25-yard field goal from Johnley David to take a 10-0 lead with 3 minutes, 43 seconds left.

Homestead coach Philip Simpson rallied his troops, though.

“I told our kids we are definitely more than that (deficit) in life,” Simpson said. “We got kids who live in trailer parks, kids that are Section 8. We got kids in things in life that weren’t their fault. This is their reflection of their reality.”

The Broncos never wilted, driving 80 yards for their first score: a 5-yard TD run by speedster Isaac Brown, who finished with 139 yards rushing. A 28-yard pass from Townsend to Javon Robinson highlighted the drive.

Jones then lost a fumble on a strip and Homestead drove to the Tigers’ 3-yard line before turning the ball over on downs.

But Jones could not take advantage as Tooley was sacked in the end zone on the very next play for a safety and watched its lead melt to 10-9.

Homestead’s Richard Dandridge then scored on a spectacular 51-yard TD pass from Townsend to put the Broncos ahead for good, 15-10, with 3:35 left in the second quarter. The two-point pass failed.

The Broncos then gave themselves some breathing room when Townsend threw a 12-yard TD pass to Cortez Mills on the opening drive of the second half. Mills then caught a two-point pass to push Homestead ahead 23-10.

The teams then battled it out defensively until the fourth quarter when Robinson zipped 17 yards for a TD to put the Broncos up 30-10 with 10:00 left.

Homestead then appeared ready to put the game on ice on its next series but lost a fumble and Jones’ George Brown took it 67 yards to the house for a touchdown.

“It’s football,” Simpson said. “The running back holds on to the ball, we get out of here much cleaner, but he fumbled and we lost momentum.

“But it’s adversity,” Simpson said. “This is a great win for our program.”

After a Homestead punt, Jones put the home crowd in a frenzy when Jabari Smith caught a 50-yard TD pass from Tooley to cut Homestead’s lead to 30-24.

The Tigers then forced the Broncos to punt but couldn’t pull out the miracle comeback as time ticked down.

“No matter what the score is, we know at the end of the day, with a minute left, we know we’re going to be in the game with the ball,” Jones coach Elijah Williams. “We had a chance to win it.”

This marked the second consecutive year that Jones lost in a state semifinal. Last season, the Tigers lost in the Class 6A state semis.

This story was originally published December 3, 2022 at 12:09 AM.