A special thanks to Steve Blackledge of the Columbus dispatch for this article on our Super Senior QB Will Phillis. Read the full article from Saturday Oct 15, 2016.
Hilliard Bradley’s winning drive Friday night resembled something football fans are accustomed to seeing on Sundays, but Jaguars quarterback Will Phillis shrugged his shoulders as if it were nothing.
“We do that all the time in practice just for situations like this,” Phillis said after engineering a 10-play, 68-yard drive in the final 4:20 that gave visiting Bradley a 31-28 victory over Dublin Jerome in an Ohio Capital Conference Cardinal Division game.
Phillis hit Zach Hummel on a 1-yard touchdown pass over the middle with 29.2 seconds left as Bradley (7-1, 3-1) snapped a 12-game winning streak by Jerome (7-1, 4-1).
“There was no sense of panic,” Phillis said. “We had complete confidence when we started that final drive right down to the end. We knew we were in four-down territory and had three timeouts left.”
Bradley coach Mike LoParo said the winning drive illustrated why Phillis, a 6-foot-4, 225-pound senior, is a major college prospect.
“Our offense is designed for that very situation, to take what defenses give us,” LoParo said. “The funny thing is we had struggled to move the ball the whole second half, but when the game was on the line, we got it done. Will is just so composed out there.”
The Jaguars led 17-0 and 24-7, but Jerome stormed back after halftime to take its first lead with 4:32 left on a 3-yard touchdown run by Robert Cope.
Daevon Anderson took the ensuing kickoff 30 yards to set up Bradley’s final drive.
Phillis completed 26 of 38 passes for 222 yards and a pair of scores, both to Hummel. The sophomore made 11 catches for 78 yards.
“They kept blitzing their outside linebackers so I told Will I was going to be open on skinny routes in the middle of the field all night,” Hummel said. “They made adjustments to stop us, and we were forced to counter with our own on that final drive.”
Bradley tailback Robbie Hyrmer carried 40 times for 156 yards and scored two touchdowns.
Hilliard Bradley’s winning drive Friday night resembled something football fans are accustomed to seeing on Sundays, but Jaguars quarterback Will Phillis shrugged his shoulders as if it were nothing.
“We do that all the time in practice just for situations like this,” Phillis said after engineering a 10-play, 68-yard drive in the final 4:20 that gave visiting Bradley a 31-28 victory over Dublin Jerome in an Ohio Capital Conference Cardinal Division game.
Phillis hit Zach Hummel on a 1-yard touchdown pass over the middle with 29.2 seconds left as Bradley (7-1, 3-1) snapped a 12-game winning streak by Jerome (7-1, 4-1).
“There was no sense of panic,” Phillis said. “We had complete confidence when we started that final drive right down to the end. We knew we were in four-down territory and had three timeouts left.”
Bradley coach Mike LoParo said the winning drive illustrated why Phillis, a 6-foot-4, 225-pound senior, is a major college prospect.
“Our offense is designed for that very situation, to take what defenses give us,” LoParo said. “The funny thing is we had struggled to move the ball the whole second half, but when the game was on the line, we got it done. Will is just so composed out there.”
The victory pushed Bradley near the top of its region in the computer ratings and gave it a chance to clinch a share of its first OCC championship by winning its final two games.
“Beating Davidson on the final second was pretty exciting earlier in the season,” Phillis said, “but to knock off an unbeaten team is really special. They came in with a lot of swag and we brought them down a notch.”
Will Phillis passing stats through 8 game are 172 completions for 263 Attempts 1940 yards and 20 TDs 2 INTs Longest was for 80 yards and he did all this without our outstanding D1 WR Kory Taylor who has been injured this season.
I might add—- Congrats to all of Daveon, Zack, and Robbie who all work on a regular basis with Coach Sink One of the finest young men I have ever had the privilege of coaching. Way to Go Will.Â
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