Elizabeth football roars back to beat Linden on Jamal Lyles' game-saving interception

ELIZABETH — After suffering eight losses by a touchdown or less last year, Elizabeth appeared to be headed for a breather as it forged a 22-point advantage heading into the fourth quarter of its 2024 opener against Linden.

But nothing seems to come easily for the Minutemen as a fourth-quarter interception and fumble helped Linden climb back into the contest by scoring twice in a 30-second span with three minutes remaining, then taking the ball back with a chance to take the lead with a minute and a half to go.

This time, it was Elizabeth that forced the crucial turnover, a downfield interception by Jamal Lyles that provided the finishing touch for a 35-28 victory that snapped a four-game losing streak to its archrival neighbors.

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“I’m jubilant. You have to celebrate the win,” Elizabeth coach John Fiore said when asked for his mindset after the Tigers roared back. “There’s a lot of things we can learn from, and we’re going to learn.”

Lyles' fingerprints were literally all over this contest. He fumbled twice in five plays on Elizabeth’s first two possessions, the second leading to a 1-yard keeper by Tyrone Hinton that staked the Tigers to a 6-0 edge eight minutes into the contest. Antoine Blount immediately atoned for that mistake by returning the ensuing kick 77 yards for a touchdown, with Arique Fleming’s conversion putting the Minutemen on top to stay.

Lyles extended the lead with his first of two touchdown runs on a 4-yard jaunt later in the half. He added the 3-yard score that lifted Elizabeth to the 28-6 cushion late in the third quarter.

A second botched handoff to Lyles enabled Linden to draw within 35-28 with 2:48 to play, but his interception on the deep ball from midfield sealed the outcome.

“I just put the old plays that happened in the past and continued to work,” Lyles said of his resiliency. “It feels good. That’s our rival and it feels amazing to beat them.”

Elizabeth never punted in the contest, losing three fumbles and an interception while scoring four times over its first eight possessions.

Elizabeth got a strong outing from returning quarterback Fleming, who opened his sophomore campaign by connecting on 12 of 18 passes for 171 yards and a touchdown and running nine times for 89 yards and another score. Fleming was at his best directing an 80-yard, six-play drive that ended with a 6-yard scoring pass to Keyshawn DeCartaret seven seconds before intermission for a 21-6 lead at the break.

“Last year I really wasn’t adapted to the game, but I feel like me and coach put a lot of time into this and now we’re just on the same page,” Fleming said. “We just felt very motivated. We came together before the game as a team and we just had a lot of energy."

Linden quarterback Tyrone Hinton ran for three scores and passed for a fourth.

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Elizabeth football roars back to beat Linden on Jamal Lyles' game-saving interception