4th quarter big plays save the Jacksonville Jaguars Part II
After the first half of the game Oakland Raiders had created a 10 points lead over the Jacksonville Jaguars. In the half time Jaguars Maurice Drew-Jones called a meeting to rally the Jaguars, his team answered his call and sprang into action. Jacksonville’s
rushing game had been slow in the first half but it would change the game in the second half.
The second quarter opened with a 49 yard kick by Oakland’s punter Sebastian Janikowski which was returned 22 yards by Jacksonville’s running back Zach Miller. Quarterback David Garrard started on the 43 yard line and tried to find Miller but the pass could
not be completed. He did however find Mercedes Lewis in the next play and threw a 17 yard pass to take the Jaguars into Oakland’s half but an offensive holding penalty a play later pushed Jacksonville back by 10 yards.
On the 2nd and 18 Garrard showed what his powerful arms could do. He pulled back from the line of scrimmage and from the 43 yard line threw a rocket all the way to the other end of the field inside the end zone. Wide Receiver Jason Hill ran from
the left down the field and came into the middle to catch the phenomenal 48 yards pass. Oakland’s free safety Michael Huff followed Hill from the line of scrimmage to the end zone but couldn’t catch up to the wide receiver or stop the pass. Hill caught just
that one pass in the game.
Even with the touchdown the Jaguars were still trailing and the Raiders were not willing to give up their lead so easily. After Hill’s touchdown the Raiders scored again in a hurry. Quarterback Jason Campbell threw a 29 yard pass at Zach Miller which Darren
McFadden followed up with a brilliant 51 yards rush for the touchdown. McFadden had caught and scored a 67 yard touchdown for the Raiders in the first quarter and that touchdown too was made possible by McFadden’s speed and agility.
With Janikowski’s extra point attempt the Raiders got back their 10 points lead.
Quarterback Garrad couldn’t find his receivers. After the touchdown Maurice Drew-Jones ran 4 yards and Garrard threw two incomplete passes, forcing the Jaguars to punt the ball instead of risking a turnover with 4th and 6 so close to Jacksonville’s
end zone. Their defence held back Jason Campbell in the next drive. Campbell was sacked for 6 yards by Derrick Harvey and in the next play he was unable to complete the pass.
It was big plays and enormous support from the running backs that kept the Jaguars afloat and a combination of both which got Jacksonville their next touchdown. Running back Rashad Jennings ran 74 yards for the touchdown. Jennings took the ball from Garrard
and streaked left. Cornerback Stanford Routt charged at Jennings but Jennings stretched out his arm and kept him at an arms length. Linebacker Jarvis Moss lunged at him but the running back evaded him, almost going out of bounds. Free Safety Michael Huff was
blocked and couldn’t stop Jennings either. He veered right and kept going right with a couple white uniforms following him. Oakland’s Tyvon Branch exploded in a burst of speed and caught up to Jennings but by that time Jennings was almost at the end zone.
Branch brought him down but not before he got through to the end zone for a touchdown.
Oakland’s subsequent offense failed as Jacksonville’s Kassim Osgood forced a fumble out of Jacoby Ford. Running back Montell Owens recovered the ball at Oakland’s 22.
Jacksonville was still trailing the Oakland Raiders by 3 points but the turnover provided them the opportunity they needed to get into the lead or, in the very least, bring the scores to an equal 24 before the second half ended.
Tags: