Quincy loses heartbreaker

Jacks' big plays not enough to put down Pioneers

They didn't have momentum. They didn't have the lead. But the Quincy Jacks almost stole one.

Thanks to some huge individual plays, Quincy forced overtime from the Omak Pioneers before falling 27-21 in overtime in Quincy Friday night.

After a sloppy first quarter ended in a stalemate, Quincy quarterback Matt Medina punched in six points on a sneak at the 10:12 mark. It would be the Jacks only lead.

After exchanging punts, Omak quarterback Cody Carden (#####) connected with Robby Bradshaw to give the Pioneers the 7-6 edge with 3:43 left in the half.

After forcing a three-and-out, Omak took the ball with less than two minutes left and quickly marched downfield, scoring on a Carden (#####) sneak to give Omak the 14-6 lead.

But with 25 seconds left in the half, things got strange.

After the kickoff, Quincy's Gabe Lopez snagged a 26-yard Medina pass and a Pioneer personal foul after the play tacked on another ten yards. The Jacks were poised to even the score, sitting on the Omak 15 with 10.6 remaining in the half.

An incomplete pass to Lopez left 6.3 on the clock. On the next play, Medina recovered his own fumbled the snap and was ruled down with at least three seconds left. Several Jacks appeared to signal for timeout, but the officials did not call it before time expired in the half.

In the beginning of the second half, all the momentum was with Omak. A one-yard touchdown run gave Omak a 21-6 lead. On the ensuing possession, the Quincy offensive line allowed two consecutive sacks, forcing a three-and-out.

The next Omak drive looked as though it would signal a Pioneer blowout, but Quincy would not die.

With 4:23 left in the quarter, Jacks linebacker Scott Yeates stripped Omak of the ball and returned it 35 yards for a touchdown. A two-point conversion made it 21-14 Omak.

Omak, which consistently converted on third-and-short and third-and-long, responded with yet another long drive, ending with a blocked field goal to end the third quarter.

Pinned inside their own territory, the Jacks' Lopez again came up big, this time zig-zagging 70 yards for the game-tying touchdown.

With the score knotted at 21-21, Quincy looked as though the game was theirs.

"I was glad to see our kids at 21-6, that we didn't lay down and quit," said Quincy head coach Bill Alexander. "This is a (Quincy) team I expect to play."

After a exchanging interceptions and a stalled Omak drive, a 34-yard Yeates run put the Jacks on the Omak 36 with four minutes left. Quincy worked their way down to the 18, but on fourth-and-one, Alexander opted not to go for a field goal. The pass attempt failed, forcing overtime.

"Going for it on fourth down, I think we were going to go for the win," Alexander said. "We weren't close enough to kick a field goal. It would have been a 40-yarder."

The Jacks started with the ball in overtime, but again Medina's protection broke down and Quincy was unable to score.

"We didn't keep them off of our backs when we needed it," Alexander said. "I don't think our (offensive) line played that good."

On their turn, Omak pounded in for a touchdown and the 27-21 win.

Alexander said he liked the fight his team showed down the stretch.

"In the last couple of weeks, we haven't been playing that well," he said. "The other teams have been making big plays and we haven't. This time we made a couple big plays. Those gave us every opportunity."

To what extent did referee calls hamstring Quincy's chances?

"None," Alexander said. "They're human, too. They make calls good, bad or otherwise. What we need to do is play hard enough to be able to overcome any official's calls and any good plays by the other team. They didn't decide the overtime. We needed to play better."

With the loss, the Jacks fall to 1-2 in league, 3-4 overall. Quincy's next game is Friday at 5-2 Cashmere.