Jackson, Blankenship Down Festus With 29 Seconds Left

It didn't seem to matter how many punishing hits Festus laid on Sullivan quarterback Tanner Jackson.

The junior signal caller took a beating Friday night. He had to leave the game on two occasions after being leveled -- the first one prompting an unnecessary roughness penalty as he scooted out of bounds.

But Jackson, like the rest of his teammates, hung in. With 29 seconds left and Sullivan trailing 20-14, Jackson zipped a 19-yard touchdown pass to Blaine Blankenship for the go-ahead score and what would eventually be a 21-20 win.

The win was the first for head coach Jimmy Tucker at Sullivan.

"That was just great," he said. "We overcame a lot of odds there."

Tucker said the theme of the week was a Greek term which translates to "power that overcomes resistance."

"Our kids used that tonight to beat a really good football team," he said. "After last week I was a little worried, but we challenged them in practice and they played their butts off."

A jovial Tucker raved about the team's offensive line and defense after the game.

"I'm really proud of our offensive linemen," Tucker said of the line, which is made up of three sophomores. "And our defense, to come out and beat a team like this that put up 48 on Vashon…this is awesome."

If not for Sullivan's special teams unit, the game may have gone into overtime.

Isaac Peregoy blocked Festus' extra point with 8:38 remaining in the game. Festus went on top 20-14.

Sullivan scored touchdowns on their first two drives of the game. Blankenship took the first play 79 yards for a touchdown and after Festus tied the game four minutes later, he caught a 71-yard touchdown pass from Jackson.

Tucker came away impressed by Jackson.

"It's the first week he's started. He didn't even play football last year," he said. Friday was the first action Jackson had seen after sitting out Week 1 with a concussion. Tucker was encouraged with the way Jackson overcame mistakes.

"When he made a bad play, he would come back and make a good one," he said.

After Sullivan took a 14-7 lead, Blankenship went over the top and caught a pass that Tigers quarterback Austin Coale floated past receiver Tyler Roth. Blankenship snagged an over-the-shoulder interception with 4:16 left in the first quarter. In the span of eight minutes, Blankenship had two touchdowns, two extra point kicks and the interception.

Festus tied the game with 10:14 left in the half on a touchdown pass from Coale to Gavin Weber. The Eagles moved the ball into Festus territory on the next drive, aided by Thomas Savez's illegal hit on Jackson. Jackson ran for 14 yards and another 15 were tacked on due to the penalty.

Levi Hurt took over for Jackson for one play. When Jackson returned, he was sacked by Zach Baisch for a loss of 11 yards. Jackson returned to his feet, each hit a reminder of what transpired a year ago in Festus. Quarterback Caleb Pryor suffered a season-ending injury as Sullivan drove for a potential game-winning score. But the Tigers wouldn't knock out Jackson.

Penalties derailed a potential scoring drive late in the half. Blankenship had a touchdown called back on a holding penalty with under a minute left and Sullivan had a field goal blocked with time expiring.

Sullivan's defense came out strong in the second half with Balor Bartolotta recovering a fumble. It set up another Blankenship touchdown that was called back on a penalty. Neither team scored in the third quarter, but Logan Uding's 23-yard touchdown run gave the Tigers the lead in the final period.

On Sullivan's next drive, Roth intercepted Jackson's pass and returned it to the Sullivan 18. The Eagles' defense made a stand and forced Festus to attempt a field goal that missed.

Sullivan took over at their own 15 with 5:50 to play and steadily worked the field. Jackson connected with Carter Dace for a 14-yard catch on fourth-and-3 that kept Sullivan's hopes alive. Four plays later, Jackson found Blankenship in the corner of the end zone.

"I think they got a little tired," Tucker said about Festus' defense. "But I just opened it up a little more, started trusting Tanner more and he made a couple big plays in the passing game."