All the pre-game hype was on a guy from Minor named Christion, spelled with an “o.”

But Christion Jones’ spotlight was stolen by another Christian — normal spelling, last name Green — and a large supporting cast of Rockets as Gardendale pulled off one of the biggest victories in Coach Chris Fancher’s tenure at the school, a 28-21 win over the Tigers Friday night at Driver Stadium.

Green ran for 126 yards on 20 rush attempts, and receiver Ja’Micheal Willis had another big night with six catches and two touchdowns.

But it was Willis’ last scoring catch that made the difference. Quarterback Dallas Tidwell threw a lateral to his backup, sophomore Connor Reed, who then threw to Willis for a 60-yard score.

It was the second time that Fancher called the play during the game. The first time nearly resulted in a score, but Willis was tackled at the 1-yard line. After a penalty, the led to a touchdown pass from Tidwell to tight end Jesse Blackburn on a soft toss over the middle of the line.

Meanwhile, Minor running back/free safety Jones — a major-college prospect whom Fancher calls “the best player in the state” — was held in check by a stingy Rocket defense. Jones finished with 40 yards rushing, most of that on a single play midway through the third quarter, and just 22 yards receiving on six catches. Jones scored twice, each time on 6-yard runs.

“Eleven versus one is always better,” Fancher said. “We outwilled him.”

The Rockets dug themselves an early hole, as they fumbled away the opening kick, which Minor (2-2, 1-2 region) turned into a 33-yard scoring pass from Jonathan Thompson to Keena Dowdell.

The Rockets tied the score with 2:07 left in the quarter on Willis’ first TD catch, this one for 42 yards from Tidwell.

Jones put Minor up again with a 6-yard run up the middle on a direct snap, but that was followed three minutes later by Tidwell’s checkdown pass to Blackburn.

Green’s sold score came with 53 seconds left in the third. He broke away for a 51-yard dash that gave the Rockets their first lead.

Jones tied the game at 21-21 on his second 6-yard scoring run, this one set up by a 39-yard pass from Thompson to Dowdell to open the fourth quarter. But Gardendale (3-1, 3-0 region) took the lead for good on the first play from scrimmage after the ensuing kickoff, on the 60-yard halfback option from Reed to Willis.

Interceptions by Julius Shelton and Brandon DeBruce squelched late drives by the Tigers. The Rocket defense tallied seven tackles for losses on the night, with Jones the victim of four.

The Rockets gained 379 yards total, compared to 324 for Minor.