Harrison’s third-string QB saves the day in Round 1, provides Goblins seniors ‘one more Friday night’

Harrison sophomore Beck Jones woke up last Friday the No. 3 quarterback on the depth chart. He finished the night as the starter and was a major key in the Goblins holding off upset-minded Camden-Fairview 21-14 in the opening round of the Class 5A state playoffs.

Harrison sophomore Beck Jones woke up last Friday the No. 3 quarterback on the depth chart. He finished the night as the starter and was a major key in the Goblins holding off upset-minded Camden-Fairview 21-14 in the opening round of the Class 5A state playoffs.

“Something just clicked at halftime,” Jones said. “Sitting in the locker room, I told my best friend on the team, Cylan Madden, ‘It’s over, we are fixing to win.’ I felt something, and I was on my way.”

After sophomore backup Logan Plumlee was ruled out Friday afternoon because of COVID-19 protocols, Jones, the Goblins' starting free safety, moved into the backup QB role. After star senior signal-caller Cole Keylon went down just before halftime with a sprained knee, Jones was inserted into the game with Harrison trailing 7-0.

He started the second half and ran for three touchdowns, including the game-winner.

“Beck was going to be our emergency quarterback, and it came down to that,” Harrison coach Joel Wells said. “He had calmness about him. He had played safety all year, and has been our leading tackler, so it’s not like he hasn’t played on Friday night before.

“He came in and played with a lot of confidence, and he is just a really good, hard-nosed football player.”

Wells said Jones, who led the junior high at quarterback a season ago, practiced a Wildcat package during the week, so he had taken reps under center.

“He ran the last play of the first half, and then going in at halftime he said, ‘Coach, I’ve got this,’” Wells said. “We sat down and talked about it, and we told our team and calmed them down, and said, ‘Hey, these are the things we are going to have to do. We are going to have to run the ball downhill and grind it out the rest of the way to have a chance to win.’

“Our kids showed a lot of confidence and calmness and Beck did a fantastic job.”

Keylon, who has scholarship offers from Arkansas Tech and Harding among others, offered a quick word of encouragement before Jones took the first snap of the second half at the Cardinals 33. On the next play, Jones rumbled in for a touchdown.

“I told him, ‘You got it, just run hard,’” Keylon said. “He went out there and ran for the touchdown and came back (to the sideline) and I said, ‘Well, I think you are ready.’”

Jones gave Harrison a 14-7 lead on a 13-yard run with 3:42 to play in the third quarter. Fairview rallied and tied the score. With less than two minutes to go, Jones led the Goblins on a seven-play, 52-yard drive thanks to two big runs by teammate Jordin Welch.

As time was running down, Harrison was inside the Fairview 20-yard line. Jones found the end zone after shedding a couple of tacklers.

“On the play that he scored on at the end, we were just trying to run the ball back to the middle of the field to center it up. If he popped it, fine, but we’re just going to try to run (the clock) down to about two seconds and call the timeout and kick a field goal. It just so happens, he popped through and broke a couple of tackles and scored.”

The Cardinals, who frustrated the Goblins offense in the first half, were befuddled by Jones, who didn’t attempt a pass.

“It definitely threw them off,” Wells said. “They hadn’t seen (Jones) back there and had no idea what his abilities were, and they had zero prep for him. Obviously, his ability to be successful, part of it was the element of surprise and part of it was just his natural ability to play.”

Keylon said Jones isn’t a typical sophomore.

“(Jones) developed early and looked like a man in seventh grade,” Keylon said. “He’s probably as big as me, and I am a senior and have worked on my body. He’s just a good football player wherever you put him.”

Harrison was without several key players who were quarantining because of COVID-19. Those players weighed on Jones’ mind at halftime.

“I have some buddies who are seniors, and I really wanted to win for them,” he said. “I wanted them to be able to play for one more Friday night. I fought for them, and I was going to do that at quarterback or safety.

“This has been such a crazy year, and I just did it for (the seniors).”

This wasn’t the first time a backup quarterback has rescued the Goblins this season. Plumlee subbed for Keylon at Morrilton and tossed two touchdowns in a conference win.

“If I am being honest, we probably wouldn’t have won either of those games if I didn’t get hurt,” Keylon said. “I didn’t really have my rhythm and (Plumlee and Jones) came in and gave us a spark.”

Keylon, who practiced this week, said he is ready to play in Friday’s home quarterfinal game against White Hall. In addition to nursing the recent knee injury, he also is battling a torn tendon in his ankle and a bone contusion in his shin.

Just in case, Wells said Jones has been preparing to play quarterback this week and will serve as the backup if Keylon does play since Plumlee’s status is uncertain.

“I took a lot more reps (at quarterback), but I am glad Cole is back,” Jones said. “He’s an amazing player and done a lot for our team. But, I will be ready to take a snap or two, and we worked a little bit on having us both in the backfield.”

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