Dragons leave no doubt: They're in it to win it

They're ranked behind Plant and Armwood in the Tribune power ratings - and they don't care.

"We've got our own show," Jefferson receiver Andre Davis said, whose nickname, naturally, is "Freak Show."

Two-time defending state champ Plant dropped them from its schedule so Plant could travel to Texas for an ESPN game. The Jefferson Dragons, a state semifinalist last season, were cool with it.

"It's OK," Dragons quarterback Quentin Williams said. "I don't blame Plant. We'd go to Texas if we could. I'd take my boys anywhere. We'd go to Texas, we'd go to Europe. We'd go to another universe. We'd play aliens, anywhere you want in the universe."

No intergalactic action Friday, unless you count Williams and his fellow seniors and otherworldly receivers, Davis and Chris Moore. They all made plays to beat rival Hillsborough 30-14 in the opener for both teams.

"Outside of the state title game, Hillsborough is the biggest game," Moore said. "There's no doubt."

And no doubt who beat Earl Garcia's game Terriers when it mattered.

"They're very good," Moore said. "We just made a few more big plays, which is what we do."

There was Williams, faking a punt to end the first quarter and completing a 27-yard pass to Moore, who went skyward to haul it down and set up the first touchdown of the game. He goes high all the time.

There were Williams and Moore again, late in the second quarter, a 74-yard touchdown bomb for a 13-7 halftime lead.

Not to be forgotten, there was Davis, making it 19-7 just after halftime, with a - wait for it - one-handed grab and run of a Williams third-and-15 pass deep in his end. The play went: 96 yards.

To repeat: One-handed.

Oh, and Williams and Moore, again, for the two-point conversion to make it 21-7.

Welcome to Jefferson football.

It's like Davis said the other day.

"The curtain is going up," he said.

Have no doubt where they want the curtain to come down in December, on a 3A state championship in Orlando.

Go ask Jefferson coach Mike Fenton. He'll tell you, straight up, about his seniors, about his team.

"They're in it to win it," Fenton said.

And if these Dragons have a little fun along the way, well, so be it.

The Big Three, Williams, Davis and Moore, are all Division-I prospects.

More to the point, they all have nicknames.

The 6-foot-3, 190-pound Davis got his a couple of years ago, after making several sick catches at a 7-on-7 tournament at USF. Fans ringed the field and chanted "Freak" and "Freak Show."

The 6-2, 180-pound Moore is called "Dr. Moore" by Davis.

"Because he's a technician, a surgeon," Davis said.

And there's Williams, the steadying hand, the cool cat, who also goes by "Q" or, best of all, "Grandpa," because sometimes his back aches.

These three are not the only headliners. Jefferson's defense made big plays, too, including an 89-yard fumble return for a touchdown by cornerback Rashad Dunnigan to put Hillsborough away.

Earl Garcia's young team is improved, and it played its heart out, and stayed close despite a ton of mistakes, but it was no match for Jefferson when it came to big moments.

Is Armwood? Is Plant?

Jefferson beat Plant in a jamboree last spring. After, Fenton suggested, with a smile, that maybe ESPN had invited the wrong team to Texas ...

"That was coach talk," Fenton said this week. "It was a fun thing."

It's fun at Jefferson, no matter where you turn, especially when you turn to Grandpa, Freak Show or Dr. Moore.

"Tonight is just the start," Moore said.

Alert the universe.