By Devon Jeffreys
Times-Union correspondent
It did not take long for the Middleburg Broncos to recover from last week’s loss to Columbia.
The Broncos used a mix of a solid running game and a bruising defense to beat the Pedro Menendez Falcons Friday night at Veterans Stadium in St. Augustine.
"These kids don’t know how to give up," Middleburg coach Rob Justino said. "They continue to fight and it’s a tribute to all these players."
Broncos’ sophomore running back Rodney Jones ran for 156 yards on 16 carries including a five-yard touchdown run in the victory.
"This is real big," Jones said of the win. "We had a good defense and offense and it’s real big."
After a scoreless first quarter, the Falcons jumped in front on a field goal and looked like they would hold the lead going to halftime. But with 52 seconds left in the half, Broncos cornerback Patrick Nixon intercepted a pass by Menendez quarterback Jon Carter and after bobbing and weaving through the offense, found his way down the right sideline and into the end zone.
"We knew what they were coming with a lot of the times," Justino said. "The kids knew some of the sets and what was going to happen in those sets.
The Broncos came out of the locker room carrying the momentum they had gone in with and went right to work. After the defense stifled Menendez’s opening drive, running game took over. A four play, 70-yard drive ended with Jones’ five-yard run and gave the Broncos a 14-3 lead.
"They were blitzing the outside linebackers so we thought ‘let’s run it down their throat.’ So we did that and we ran right down," Jones said.
Jones accounted for 61 yards on three carries during the drive.
"He knows what it takes to win ball games," Justino said. "And he’s a tenth grader. That’s special."
Middleburg used two quarterbacks in the game. Makensy Gede started the game and played most of the first half, but was ineffective. His replacement, Tony Cannaday, picked the defense apart on a few drives completing six of his 15 passes for 85 yards. Though he didn’t get the team into the end zone, he set them up for two field goal opportunities.
Cody Spanbauer converted both chances, the first a chip shot 23 yarder and then a 45 yarder that just cleared the crossbar and gave the Broncos a 20-10 advantage with six minutes to play. The defense would do the rest.
Middleburg returns home to play Ridgeview next week in a district 5-4A matchup.
"Next week is homecoming and the momentum is going to go up," Jones said. We’re going to play our football."