Green Wave falls short at Cane Ridge

NASHVILLE Junior tailback Jordan Mason racked up more than 250 yards rushing and three scores on Friday, but it wasn’t enough to overcome a late touchdown as Cane Ridge beat visiting Gallatin, 40-34.

Gallatin HIgh senior wide receiver Izell Williams (8) caught a team-high four passes for 61 yards in Friday evening’s 40-34 loss at Cane Ridge.

After trailing most of the game, Mason broke off a 75-yard run before Gallatin tied the score at 34-34 on sophomore Jalen Porter’s 2-yard run with 4:26 remaining. However, David Solis missed the extra point and the game remained tied.

Cane Ridge (8-2 overall, 5-2 in Region 6-5A) marched the ball downfield in short order, but just when it looked like the Gallatin (4-6, 2-5) defense was going to make a stop, a pass-interference call gave the Ravens new life.

The Ravens made the most of it as D.J. Thorpe made the decision to run after seeing all his receivers tightly-covered, lowered his head and gave Cane Ridge the lead for good at 40-34 with a 6-yard touchdown run that left just 1:05 on the clock.

“We felt like we had it covered,” Gallatin head coach Mark Williams said. “Hats off to the Cane Ridge quarterback for making a play there. We just over-pursued a little bit, and he made a good play.”

Mason added, “It was emotional. It made me want to go out there and hit somebody.”

However, it wasn’t all bad for the junior, who finished with 258 rushing yards and three touchdowns on the ground, demonstrating big-play ability with runs of 29, 32, 62 and 75 and impressing more than just the Green Wave faithful.

Jordan Mason, Gallatin

“He’s a big physical guy, and he’s a (heck) of a back,” Cane Ridge head coach Eddie Woods said. “He’s an SEC-type (Southeastern Conference-type) back. He’s fast. He’s powerful. He’s strong.”

Williams added, “He’s a special young man, and the first thing he would tell you is he appreciates his offensive line and how hard they block for him. He did a lot of good things tonight, and he’s had to carry the workload this year. That’s something he can build upon and get better, and we expect big things out of him coming in the future.”

Despite the emotional and tough loss to end the Green Wave’s 2015 campaign, Mason said that having such a productive game to end the season should do a lot for his mindset heading into next year.

“It does a whole lot for my confidence,” Mason said. “Hopefully, I can keep it rolling next (year).”

Williams added, “Jordan had a great night tonight. He’s been a workhorse for us all year long, and he wears that as a mantle of pride. He wants to be in those situations. It’s obviously good to know that you’ve got a young man like that coming back that’s high character, good athlete and a hard worker. It makes you feel good, and it’s something you can build upon next year. I’m just proud of the effort our young men gave tonight against a good Cane Ridge High School football team. It’s always tough. Any last game is tough for a senior. For most of them, it’s the last time they will set foot on a football field and the last time they’ll ever be together like this in their life, so you just want to thank them and tell them how proud you are of them.”

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C – E. Barton 2 run, (kick failed); G – J. Mason 2 run (Solis kick); C – C. Lancaster 42 pass from D. Thorpe (C. Velasquez kick); C – E. Barton 2 run (C. Velasquez kick); G – J. Mason 2 run (Solis kick) C – E. Barton 2 run (C. Velasquez kick); G – D. Chambers 63 pass from W. Hayes (Solis kick) C – I. Owens 28 pass from D. Thorpe (C. Velasquez kick); G – J. Mason 3 run (Solis kick); G – J. Porter 2 run (kick failed); C – D. Thorpe 6 run (conversion failed)

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RUSHING:G— Hayes 1- 3, Mason 30- 258, Porter 4- 11. C— Barton 30- 187, Lancaster 4- 20, Terrell 1- 1, Thorpe 2- 6.

PASSING: G— Hayes 15- 5- 1- 124. C— Thorpe 32- 23- 0- 374.

RECEIVING:G— Chambers 1- 63, Williams 4- 61. C— Barton 2- 18, Jackson 4- 85, Lancaster 3- 54, McCray 9- 152, Owens 1- 28, Smith 1- 9, Terrell 3- 28.