Jefferson Football

Prairie holds off J-Hawks, 17-14

The difference between the Prairie and Jefferson football teams Friday night was 18 inches.

Jefferson failed to score from inside the 1-yard line in the fourth quarter and Prairie escaped with a 17-14 victory in a Class 4A non-district game at Kingston Stadium.

Jefferson quarterback Jesse Furrow came up 18 inches short on his sneak from the 1-yard line on second down. The J-Hawks lined up to try again on third down and Prairie nose tackle Bryce Meeker did not like where he was standing.

"My whole body was in the end zone," said Meeker, the 300-pounder who is headed to Iowa State next year.

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Warriors outlast pesky J-Hawks, 43-26

Almost 47 years to the day, Jefferson All-Americans John Blessman and Doug Lane returned together to the Kingston Stadium sidelines Friday night for a football game with Washington.

Blessman came from the Amanas, Lane from California.

The last time they were there the Warriors beat their heralded undefeated team to break the J-Hawks' 37-game win streak.

The two old gladiators gave a pep talk to this year’s rejuvinated Jefferson squad and came close to getting revenge for that bitter loss nearly a half-century ago.

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Furrow gives J-Hawks 'real deal' at QB

Cedar Rapids Jefferson football coach Brian Webb was a little skeptical the first time he heard that a talented quarterback from Indiana would be joining his team this season.

Then Webb watched film of Jesse Furrow in action at Pendleton Heights High School, where he passed for 2,147 yards and 20 touchdowns last season.

Case closed.

"I knew he was the real deal. Pretty exciting," Webb said at practice Monday after watching Furrow throw the ball.

"We're very fortunate that he moved in. He's quite the talent. We're very fortunate that he's part of what we're doing."

Furrow's father, Lynn, is the new pastor at Springs of Life Church in Cedar Rapids and the family moved into the Jefferson district this spring.

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QB from Indiana joins J-Hawks

Jesse Furrow passed for 561 yards and six touchdowns in a single game for Pendleton Heights High School in Pendleton, Ind., last season as a junior.

Now he'll be throwing passes for the Jefferson J-Hawks after moving to Cedar Rapids with his family last winter and enrolling at Jefferson.

Chris Deam, the athletic director at Jefferson, confirmed Monday that Furrow is a student at the school.

Furrow passed for 2,147 yards and 20 touchdowns last fall at Pendleton Heights. He completed 53.1 percent of his passes (147 of 277) with nine interceptions and ran for six TDs.

Furrow is listed at 6-foot-1 and 190 pounds on the NCSA Athletic Recruiting website.

Furrow was the starting quarterback at New Pendleton as a sophomore and has passed for 3,831 yards in his career. He set school records as a junior when he completed 36 passes for 561 yards against New Palestine. He tied the school record in that game with six TD passes.

"I love football and have a passion for the game," he said on the recruiting website. "I love to play. I love to practice. I love to study the game and improve as a player and a student of the game."

Jefferson Coach Brian Webb could not be reached for comment Monday morning.