Booker T. scores two touchdowns in last 5:25 to stun Bolles in 4A state title game

All season long, they had to deal with obstacle after obstacle as a team, so when they found themselves trailing Jacksonville Bolles by 11 points with just 6:29 left in the Class 4A state championship game and having had done absolutely nothing on offense the entire second half, what was one more hurdle for the Booker T. Washington Tornadoes to clear.

The Tornadoes then proceeded to put on a furious rally, scoring twice in the final four minutes including a 15-yard Torey Morrison quarterback keeper with 2:50 left to stun Bolles 25-21 at Daytona Stadium on Wednesday. It marked the program’s sixth state title and first since they won their fourth straight back in 2015. It was also the renewal of an old rivalry as the same two teams met four years in a row from 2011 to 2014.

“What a moment for this program, I love these kids,” said associate head coach Ben Hanks, who took over in August when Tim “Ice” Harris left to become coach at NAIA Florida Memorial University and replacement coach Earl Tillman Jr. battled pancreatic cancer. “For these kids to hang in there and rally, and do what they did to pull this game out says so much about their true heart and character. They’ve never quite all year had to overcome so much so they weren’t about to quit tonight and now they’re state champs.”

On top of the coaching obstacles, the BTW coaching staff also lost seven starters to transfer — five to Northwestern, two to Gulliver Prep — after Harris left.

“We’ve been fighting adversity all year and I told my team to just keep their composure,” said Morrison, who finished his night 27 of 42 for 275 yards and two scores. “We were going to keep fighting until the clock hit 0:00 and we did it. We weren’t going out. They would’ve had to drag us off this field if we had an L and we didn’t want no L.”

Trailing 21-10 at halftime, the Tornadoes (13-2) were able to do very little on offense the entire second half, but the BTW defense stepped up, holding the Bulldogs (11-2) without a first down on their first six possessions as the game turned into a series of punts on both sides.

With 6:29 left, the Tornadoes took over at their own 41. The rally began on the first play when Morrison found Ternard Summerall for a 39-yard gain down to Bolles’ 20-yard line. A 16-yard completion to Jacorey Brooks set them up at the four before Morrison, on a third-and-goal, went back to Brooks again.

One of their favorite plays all season — one that beat Gulliver in the last 30 seconds in a regional final — was the fade pass to the corner that Brooks went up and brought in. Morrison hit Adam Moore for the two point conversion and it was 21-18 with 5:25 left.

“We’re always feeling confident, we all felt like we had it,” said Brooks when asked how he felt after that touchdown to pull within three.

As good as the Tornado defense had played in the second half, what they had not done was force a turnover all game. That changed at the most opportune time when linebacker Tramel Logan Jr. put a big hit on Bolles quarterback Ben Netting to jar the ball loose and John Joachin recovered at the Bulldog 30 with 4:17 left.

Then came the biggest play of the night and the season for the Tornadoes. Thanks to Morrison losing his grip on an attempted pass resulting in a fumble and lost yardage, BTW was facing a fourth-and-18 at the 38. That’s when Morrision, like he’s been doing all season, got away from a rush, rolled to his right and launched a desperation heave down the sidelines.

In a play that could make the ESPN highlights show, Edward Arza Jr. came down with a miraculous one-handed grab over Bolles defender Taiwo Sogbesan for a 23-yard gain to the 15. Morrison then scored around the right side on the next play to put the Tornadoes ahead.

“Most people call those 50-50 balls,” Arza said. “At Booker T. we call them 80/20 balls. I just went up and did what I had to do.”

Said Morrison: “I trust my players with the 50-50 ball and he did it. I always give my players a chance and he came down with it, forever.”

Needing one last big defensive play, Joachin delivered again. With Bolles facing a fourth-and-four out near midfield, Netting had running back Kade Frew wide open in the left flat. But Joachin extended his hands and got a piece of the ball and the pass fell incomplete with 1:16 left. It capped a remarkable second half performance, one that saw the BTW defense hold Bolles to seven yards of offense after giving up 170 in the first half.

The Bulldogs still had all three of their timeouts left, but when Shemar Paul bolted up the middle for 7 yards on third-and-5 for a first down, the Tornado sideline exploded in a wild celebration.

The game did not get off to a good start for the Tornadoes. On the game’s fifth play, Brooks couldn’t handle a Morrison pass. At least that’s what the Tornado sideline thought, but officials, after huddling up, ruled Brooks had possession of the ball making it a fumble and awarded the ball to Bolles at the BTW 47.

Five plays later, on third-and-five from the BTW 14, it appeared the Tornadoes got a break when they stripped the ball from Davis Ellis at the 7. Frew was Johnny-on-the-spot, scooping up the loose ball and trotting into the end zone.

The Tornadoes had an answer for their early deficit when Morrison led the offense on a 60-yard, seven play drive, finding Brooks in the back of the end zone for a 22-yard score tying the game at seven.

But the Booker T. defense, which struggled the entire first half trying to stop Netting, couldn’t do it on the next drive either as Netting killed them on numerous option keepers.

Facing a third-and-10 at the Tornadoes’ 24, Netting was about to be sacked rolling to his right when he barely managed to get a short dump pass off to Frew who then dodged three different defenders to turn the play into a 24-yard scoring and 14-7 Bulldogs lead.

After Booker T. Washington cut the Bolles lead to 14-10 on a 23-yard Jose Mejia field goal, Netting and Frew hammered the Tornado defense again. Facing a third-and-four at the BTW 46, Netting found Frew in the left flat for what appeared to be only a short gain. But Frew broke free down the sideline before juking a Tornado defender and sprinting to the end zone to make it 21-10 with 6:17 left in the second quarter.

This story was originally published December 11, 2019 at 11:10 PM.