Jyron Hughley's huge night not enough for Cardinal Newman football vs. Buchholz
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WEST PALM BEACH — Jyron Hughley couldn’t do it all by himself.
But he certainly tried.
Cardinal Newman High’s senior quarterback had one of the best all-around performances of the season — perhaps in many seasons — in amassing 426 yards of total offense against Gainesville-Buchholz on Oct. 31.
Hughley ran for two scores, threw an 83-yard touchdown pass and kept the Bobcats’ defense on its heels all night, but the Crusaders dropped a 34-30 decision to the state’s top-ranked Class 6A team in their regular-season finale.
The Crusaders (7-3) were 8 yards away from victory in the final minute, but Hughley’s fourth-down pass under heavy pressure fell incomplete.
“It means a lot to get that many yards, but I’m still kind of upset because we came up short,” said Hughley, a West Virginia commit. “I let my team down. That last drive, we could have scored and sealed the game away.”
Hughley completed 8 of 12 passes for 261 yards and ran 18 times for 165 yards.
In addition to his 83-yard touchdown to senior wide receiver Leslie Mosley, he had passes of 32, 44 and 53 yards. Aside from his scoring runs of 4 and 6 yards, he also had gains of 47 and 37 yards.
With the Bobcats (9-1) focused on stopping senior running back Phoenix Donghia, who entered the game with more than 900 yards, Hughley said he knew early on that the Crusaders’ offense would have to revolve around him.
“I felt like just putting an ‘S’ on my chest and becoming Superman,” he said. “I felt at some point I had to put the team on my back, which they knew I could do.”
The first half was a shootout, with every possession resulting in a score.
Hughley’s 4-yard TD run with 49.7 seconds left in the half gave Cardinal Newman its first lead at 20-17, but Buchholz answered with a quick-strike drive that ended in a disputed touchdown.
Senior wide receiver Justin Williams caught a 3-yard pass in the back of the end zone, but the closest official ruled that his foot touched down out of bounds and signaled incomplete. Williams became enraged and ripped off his helmet, drawing a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.
It appeared the Bobcats would have one final play from the 18-yard line with three seconds left. But the officials called time, sent both teams to the sidelines and huddled in the middle of the field. After several minutes, the lead official announced that the call had been reversed and signaled a touchdown, giving Buchholz a 24-20 lead. (The 15-yard penalty was assessed on the kickoff.)
Cardinal Newman’s defense, which had been shredded in the first two quarters, forced the first punt of the game to start the second half. Hughley then directed a 13-play, 93-yard drive, ending with his 6-yard run, to push the Crusaders back in front.
After the teams traded field goals, the Bobcats scored the eventual winning touchdown on a broken play. Sophomore quarterback Andrew Whittemore, flushed out of the pocket, was sprinting to his left with three defenders in pursuit. Whittemore, a right-hander, stopped long enough to heave the ball to Williams, and the Florida commit caught it in stride for a 72-yard touchdown play.
“Our safety was there, but he didn’t expand down the field when No. 13 broke deep,” Crusaders coach Jack Daniels said. “It wasn’t his fault. We’ve got to get a pass rush there and get pressure on the quarterback.”
With 3:10 left in the game, there was still time for Hughley to work one more miracle. Starting at his 20, he broke a 37-yard run and threw a 31-yard pass to Mosley to give Cardinal Newman a first down at the 12. Three plays later, however, his final pass fell incomplete and the Bobcats celebrated as if they had just won a playoff game.
“We told our kids that this was our first playoff game,” Buchholz coach Jack Whittemore said. “Both teams really, really wanted this one tonight. You could see that.”
Whittemore was relieved to see his defense finally turn back Hughley after chasing him all night.
“That was an unbelievable performance,” he said. “He’s a kid from my hometown of Belle Glade, I know a lot of his people, I love to see him having that kind of success. He’s going to be a terrific player at the next level.”
Both teams now prepare for the playoffs, Buchholz as the likely No. 1 seed in Region 1-6A and Cardinal Newman as the probable No. 2 seed in Region 3-1A. In his postgame address to his players, Daniels said they can take some positives away from the loss.
“It was a great game for us going into the playoffs,” Daniels said. “That’s a big school that’s ranked sixth in the state out of all classifications. That’s what it’s going to be like in the playoffs.”
Palm Beach County high school football scores: Week 11
Friday
- Glades Central 14, Pahokee 0
- Buchholz 34, Cardinal Newman 30
- Archbishop McCarthy 48, King’s Academy 7
- John Carroll Catholic 35, St. John Paul II 6
- Inlet Grove 12, McLaughlin 6
- Carrollwood Day 47, Spanish River 13
- Jupiter Christian 40, Keswick Christian 6
- Glades Day 42, Boca Raton Christian 34
Thursday
- West Boca Raton 31, Atlantic 14
- Dr. Joaquin Garcia 27, Royal Palm Beach 26
- Jupiter 42, South Fork 0
- Seminole Ridge 28, Wellington 27
- Palm Beach Central 49, Dwyer 0
- Saint Andrew’s 35, Benjamin 3
- Lake Worth 17, Boynton Beach 6
- Boca Raton 43, John I. Leonard 0
- Park Vista 41, Forest Hill 9
- Palm Beach Gardens 36, Melbourne 22
- American Heritage-Delray 35, Bayside 7
- Palm Beach Lakes 26, Suncoast 6
- Archbishop Carroll 55, Olympic Heights 0
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Cardinal Newman loses to Buchholz despite Jyron Hughley’s heroics
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