INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- On fourth-and-17 with 53 seconds left in a one-point game, Glenville High School quarterback Cardale Jones converted with a 31-yard pass.
On third-and-10 from the 15, Jones delivered another first-down throw.
On second-and-goal from the 2 with 11.9 seconds left, the 6-5, 225-pound Jones rolled around left end and bulled into the end zone to give the Tarblooders, ranked first by The Plain Dealer in Northeast Ohio and 22nd in the nation by USA Today, a 28-21 victory over No. 23 Indianapolis Warren Central on Saturday night.
"It was pressure, but it's a privilege to be pressured," said Jones, who completed 20 of 36 passes for 250 yards and two touchdowns. "My coach put the game in my hands and that's what I want."
Warren Central appeared to have worn out an inexperienced Glenville defense as it went 66 yards -- 54 on the ground -- with Deionte Buckley scoring from nine yards out midway through the third quarter to tie the game, 14-14. Glenville's Shane Wynn, however, answered by returning the kickoff 90 yards for a score, though a two-point conversion pass failed.
Warren Central got the ball back and easily moved 64 yards, including a 17-yard run by Anthony Davis and a 21-yarder by Buckley, to set up a 7-yard touchdown from Buckley. Nick Cassidy's extra point gave his team a 21-20 lead with 4:38 remaining.
But Jones threw or ran the ball on 15 of the 16 plays on the final drive. He converted a third-and-1 with a two-yard pass to Wynn and a third-and-3 with a six-yarder to Wynn.
Reaching the Warren Central 35, Jones was sacked on back-to-back plays, but that only set up his game-saving 31-yard pass to Evonte Dunn on fourth-and-17. Jones threw or ran on 51 of the team's 62 plays and accounted for 257 of its 300 yards of offense.
"He grew up a little more tonight," coach Ted Ginn said. "He falls down but he can always get back up. He's still learning. When his maturity reaches his talent he's going to be a super guy.
"We definitely wanted to run the rock. We don't want to throw it all the time but we had to lean on him a little bit today. We're still young up front. It tested our character a little bit but we came through.
"I was pretty much proud of [Cardale]. He brought it on."