Kevin Wright of Bob Jones runs the ball Friday night. Wright ran for 120 yards two touchdowns against Buckhorn. (CONTRIBUTED / BARRY ANDERSON)

With a game against region leader Austin looming next week, Bob Jones made sure they did not overlook Buckhorn this week. The Patriots jumped out to a first quarter lead, came close to their third shutout this season, and clinched a playoff berth after a dominating 35-7 home win over Buckhorn.

Kevin Wright had another impressive performance running for 120 yards on just 7 carries and 2 touchdowns. Coupled with Jay Rogers’ 90 yards, the Patriots rushed for 279 yards in the game.

“Our offensive line and receivers have got better each week blocking and we have some guys that can run the football,” said Bob Jones head coach Kevin Rose. “We knew a win tonight could put us in the playoffs and we got a chance to be the region champion for the fourth straight season. We will be ready to go.”

Bob Jones scored touchdowns on their first three possessions of the game. A one-yard touchdown run from Jay Rogers capped the first drive that featured a Kevin Wright 20-yard burst. Wright scored his first touchdown on a 3-yard run on the next series after the defense forced Buckhorn to turn the ball over on downs.

Buckhorn drove inside the 20-yard line five times in the first 3 quarters but was turned away each time. In the second quarter, Buckhorn threatened but after two helmet rattling hits by linebacker Drew Davis on quarterback Hunter Chapman, Chapman threw incomplete on fourth down to end the drive.

Seth Parker came in at quarterback and drove Bob Jones 91 yards to the third touchdown of the first half, a 1-yard pass to Roderick Randolph to go up 21-0 at the half.

Tyler Brutofsky had an interception to stop another Buckhorn drive as the Patriots defense got big games from Nick Holman who had a sack, Arthur White had a sack and Brandon Davis and David Norris who each had a tackle for loss.

Bob Jones was up 35-0 when the second team defense entered the game at 7:30 of the fourth quarter. Buckhorn got on the board with a 3-yard run by Darian Brown late in the fourth quarter.

“We’ve played great red-zone defense for the last 4 weeks,” Rose said. “They keep getting better and we hope that continues next week. Drew Davis is as good a Mike linebacker as we have had since I’ve been here. He plays sideline-to-sideline.”

In the third quarter the Patriots offensive line continued blowing holes in the Buckhorn defense and Jay Rogers capped a drive with a twisting 13-yard touchdown run to go up 28-0 after David Mitchell’s extra point. Kevin Wright added a 30-yard touchdown run later in the third quarter before both runners retired for the evening.

“The offensive line did a great job tonight,” Wright said after the game. “I had a lot of open holes and I had some good runs. We have been overlooking some teams the last few weeks but this week we were just focused to take care of business and get ready for next week against Austin.”

Bob Jones, now 6-2, 5-1 in region play will play Austin next week in a game to determine the region champion. The implications of the game got more interesting when Austin lost to Florence Friday night.

“It’s huge to have a chance to play for the region championship after graduating 18 starters plus losing 50% of our ninth and tenth graders to James Clemens,” Rose said. “It’s a great accomplishment for our club.”