It didn’t matter though,
as host Bradford County (4-2, 2-1) held off arch-rival Keystone Heights (5-2,
3-1) 28-21 at David Hurse Stadium to seize control of the District 4-5A
runner-up spot.
Bradford stunned the
Indians early on their second possession of the game on Lyndell Hampton’s (92
yards on 15 carries) 5-yard touchdown run giving the Tornadoes an early 7-0
lead with 4:48 left in the first quarter.
Early in the second
quarter, the Tornadoes struck again thanks to a 24-yard scramble from sophomore
quarterback Jacob Luke, which set up Jarvis Desue’s 2-yard touchdown run giving
the Tornadoes a 13-0 lead with 9:09 left till half.
Just before half, Indian
quarterback Blake Valenzuela tried to allude Tornadoes defenders and
inadveredly threw the ball in the air to avoid the sack, and right into the
hands of defensive lineman Markell Parks hands. Parks rumbled 20-yards down the
right sideline for an untouched score and 20-0 lead with 1:05 left till half.
Despite being ahead three
scores, Bradford coaches knew Keystone wouldn’t give up and go away, especially
with a potential playoff spot on the line and they didn’t.
In the span of 91 seconds,
the Indians made it a game again and cut the lead to one score 20-14 midway
early in the third quarter.
Receiving the second half
kickoff, the Indians didn’t waste any time making things interesting.
Senior tailback Alex
Gonzales, who was contained for most of the night, broke freer for a 54-yard
touchdown run down the left side of the field cutting the lead to 20-7 just two
minutes into the second half.
Three plays later, Luke
threw right into the hands of Indians linebacker John Brown, who returned the
interception 42 yards down to the 1-yard line before being pushed out of
bounds.
Michael Carroll’s 1-yard
plunge cut the lead 20-14 with 8:23 left in the third quarter.
With the momentum having
swung back to Keystone, Bradford needed a drive to seize back the game.
Luke (12 of 21 for 151
yards) orchestrated a 71-yard, 15 play drive on the ensuing drive resulting in
a fourth and nine pass play to Kenny Dinkins for a 15-yard touchdown putting
the Tornadoes back ahead 28-14 with less than two minutes left in the third
quarter.
Behind Gonzales (168 yards
on 23 carries), the Indians appeared to be headed towards another score.
Gonzales carried the ball nine consecutive times on the drive before coming out
for a breather. With Gonzales on the sideline, the offense stalled gaining
negative 5 yards.
Facing fourth and 15,
Valenzuela’s pass was nearly picked off at the 1-yard line giving the ball back
to the Tornadoes with six minutes left in the game.
Just when it appeared
Bradford would run the clock out potentially, wide receiver Marco Grimsley was
stripped twice of the ball on back-to-back drives giving the ball back to the
Indians at midfield.
Keystone took advantage of
the second turnover by Grimsely. Three plays later Valenzuela found Brighton
Gibbs for an 11-yard completion cutting the lead to 28-21 with 1:21 left in the
game.
Keystone attempted an
onside kick, which was recovered by Dequan Blount at midfield to end the
Indians comeback attempt and the Indians run of 6 out of 8 wins over their
arch-rivals.
With the win, Bradford
(4-2, 2-1) remained in contention for the 4-5A runner-up spot ahead of Keystone
(5-2, 3-1) thanks to the head-to-head win.
Bradford controls its own
playoff destiny having to only win out to lock up the district runner-up spot,
while Keystone, which host South Sumter in two weeks, must either pull the upset
over South Sumter or have Bradford drop one of its final district games to
potentially force a district shootout.
South Sumter (7-0) (3-0)
Keystone (5-2) (3-1)
Bradford (4-2) (2-1)
Mount Dora (5-2) (2-1)
Umatilla (5-2) (2-2)
Interlachen (1-5) (0-3)
Weeki Watchee (1-5) (0-4)
Scores
Bradford 28, Keystone 21
South Sumter 77, Weeki
Watchee 7
Umatilla 38, Interlachen
14
Mount Dora 46, Eustis 32
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