Hall’s defense stepped up time after time on the night
and forced quarterback Colby Peters out of pocket one final time before going
down on a fourth and 16 play with under a minute to play.
It was the defense which changed the momentum early in
the game and kept the state’s all-time
winningest coach Corky Rogers on his toes.
Tied at 14 all with under three minutes to play in the
first half, the Golden Eagles defense stepped up and made two huge plays.
Jared Kindle picked off a Peters pass and returned it to
the 14-yard line setting up Mike Scarnecchia’s 10-yard touchdown pass to tailback
Mike Brown two plays later.
Peters was picked off again on the ensuing offensive
play, which led to Kindle’s 10-yard touchdown run out of the wildcat formation
with 1:03 left in the half.
In a span of 100 seconds, the Eagles forced two turnovers
and turned both into touchdowns for a 26-14 halftime lead.
“Those two plays were huge and our offense did what they
were supposed to do taking advantage of the mistakes,” Hall said, “We were
worried all week about stopping them and after the first quarter where we
couldn’t line up right, we realized we could play with them.”
Rogers made some halftime adjustments it seemed forcing
the Eagles offense the first drive of the third quarter into a rare punt, which
hit off the side of the punters foot and sailed 17 yards setting the Bulldogs up
at the 38-yard line.
Behind the running of senior tailbacks Arterrious
Mitchell (53 yards on 16 carries) and Gianluca Heatherley (78 yards on 17
carries), the Bulldogs put together a 11-play, 38-yard drive which resulted in
a Peters 4-yard pass to Mitchell on fourth and four to cut the lead to 26-21
with 5:19 left in the third.
Just when it seemed Bolles had seized all the momentum,
Fleming Island seized it back on the last drive of the quarter heading into the
fourth.
Scarneccchia (9 of 16 for 132 yards) connected on all of
four of his passes on the drive to move the Eagles down the field easily,
finishing the drive with a 11-yard toss to Kindle down the left sideline for a
33-21 lead with ten minutes left.
“I tell the kids all the time lets grab the pendulum back
by working hard and coming together. I have been here since 2005 and this team
never gives up,” Hall said.
Peters (13 of 24 for 121 yards) marched Bolles 91-yards
on his ensuing drive, which ended with him connecting with Dexter Carter Jr.
for a 25-yard toss cutting the lead to 33-28 with 5:52 left to play.
Bolles forced another three and out and punt getting the
ball back with under five minutes left.
A pass interference call on the Eagles on second and 15
play, helped Bolles reach the twenty with under two minutes left in the game.
However like they did all night, the Eagles defense stepped up when they had
to.
“Our defensive unit did a tremendous job tonight, early
on they were killing us with the play action but I’m glad we were able to stop
them,” Hall said. “’m happy for my players and the coaching staff, we knew all about them since they are a local
team and know all about their tradition, but its just another win and let’s
move on and prepare for Orange Park.”
Fleming Island (4-0) which has played all four of its
games at home, finally hits the road to face arch-rival Orange Park (1-2);
while Bolles (3-1) which has played three of its four games on the road
continues its road tour traveling to North Marion next week.
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