Fort Pierce Central football wins with fake field goal as time expires
· Yahoo Sports
FORT PIERCE – Trailing by three points in the final seconds of regulation, Fort Pierce Central football coach Michael Watkins gambled his team had more composure than his opponent.
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It paid off, big time.
Holder Zach Hunt-Bianco threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Javion Webb on a fake field goal attempt as time expired leading the Cobras to an improbable 23-20 victory over SFA on Friday evening, Sept. 18 at Calvin R. Triplett Field at Lawnwood Stadium.
Fort Pierce Central seemed willing to boot a game-tying field goal and send the game to overtime, as senior kicker Adem Karagic lined up for a 37-yard attempt with 10.1 seconds remaining in regulation.
The kick fell short, but SFA was flagged for roughing the kicker, moving the ball to the 10-yard line.
As the SFA coaching staff called for Karagic to be removed from the game because of an injury, Central seemed set for a 28-yard field goal.
But there was plenty going on behind the scenes.
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“I just looked at them. I threw them the signal. They threw it back at me. I said ‘Let’s do it.’” Hunt-Bianco said.
It was Hunt-Bianco taking the snap, rising to his feet and finding a wide-open Trey Flowers in the corner of the end zone.
“I told them I could throw it, and we did it,” Hunt-Bianco said of his first pass attempt of the season. “I told them I could do it. They trusted me.
“I know how to throw a ball. I throw as far as my QBs, no discredit to them.”
Watkins said it was the SFA defense that led to the call.
“They were just all-out going for it,” he said.
There were a number of sequences that led to the winning score.
After the Cobras’ defense held the Rams and forced a punt from their 26-yard line, the SFA punter was ruled down taking a low snap at the 15-yard line.
“We didn’t deserve to win,” Watkins said. “We just walked into it. We made enough plays to do it.”
Most of those plays came on defense.
“We played a really bad game. The defense was on the field all night, really played their butts off, as they have all year,” Watkins said.
In a game that began 38 minutes after the scheduled kickoff time of 7 p.m. because of the late-arriving SFA (not Specialty Fit Academy or Strong Faith Academy, just simply SFA) coming across the state, Fort Pierce Central (4-0) scored on its second play of the game.
Senior quarterback Drew LaPlante hooked up with junior Ivan Blackmon for a 73-yard touchdown 61 seconds into the game.
A fumble enabled SFA to get on the board midway through the first quarter, but junior Jaidyn Beaubrun prevented the Rams from tying the game by blocking the PAT kick.
It remained 7-6 until the third quarter when senior Kevin Dixon broke free for an 11-yard touchdown, and Karagic kicked a 30-yard field goal to put the Cobras up 17-6.
The team from Dover in Hillsborough County scored two touchdowns and added a 2-point PAT run in a 61-second span of the fourth quarter to take a 20-17 lead with 7 minutes, 46 seconds remaining in regulation.
Even after SFA recovered the ensuing kickoff after the second touchdown at the Fort Pierce Central 14-yard line, the Cobras’ defense hung tough.
With seniors Jarimayh Owens and Jonny Quinteros-Mendoza making big plays, the Fort Pierce Central defense forced a turnover on downs.
“Playing hard, flying around and fighting through adversity,” Owens said, crediting defensive coaches Josh Watkins, Ronald Neal and Cody Neese for the preparation. “With the weather being off in St. Lucie County, we haven’t been able to get much practice, but we come out and do what we need to do.
SFA had two more chances to run out the clock, but the Cobras’ defense forced punts both times.
“It definitely was taking a toll,” Owens said. “But pregame and halftime we were giving a lot of glory to God and we say a lot of prayers so that definitely helps us push through and fight through the adversity and play to the best of our ability.”
The Fort Pierce Central defense was on the field for 56 plays.
“Again, the defense is the story, and how they hung in there,” Michael Watkins said. “It was a weird night, late start, super humid, cramps everywhere. We’re super banged up. We had two practices in three weeks because of the weather, and we don’t have a field that works.”
But the Cobras remained undefeated going into their biggest game of the season Friday at Vero Beach High.
“I feel like we are built for moments like this,” Owens said. “We trust our coaches. And we also trust our players because of all the work we put into this.
“We definitely wanted to gamble and take the chance.”
Watkins saw a different side to his team.
“They’re resilient,” he said. “They weren’t perfect, especially with their emotions. We can improve on that. But it’s always better to win. Hopefully, we can get healthy, get our emotions in check and hopefully this is a wake-up call.”
SFA takeaways
Small in numbers, SFA played Ram-tough
Dressing 28 players, SFA (1-4) received maximum effort out of most and were visibly upset it didn’t come away with its second win of the season.
“They didn’t know anything about that team, but that’s a really good football team,” Watkins said of his team. “I don’t care what their record is. They’ve played a helluva schedule. They’ve got players all over the field. It was a hard-fought game and we snuck out a win.”Picking up the pace in the second half
Held to 102 yards of total offense (57 rushing, 45 passing) in the first half, SFA took advantage of its opportunities, returning an interception for a touchdown and putting together a 12-play, 58-yard drive that stretched from the end of the third quarter to the beginning of the fourth.
The Rams held Fort Pierce Central to six yards in the fourth quarter.Rams in their fourth year playing football
Founded by former University of South Florida football player Mark Oliver, the Rams’ football program is in its fourth year. SFA went 27-12 during the first three years, including six forfeit victories in the first two seasons. The team has upcoming games against Lakeland High and Melbourne Central Catholic High.
Fort Pierce Central takeaways
Central’s offense humming early
Although it scored only seven points in the first half, the Cobras’ offense compiled 243 yards, 222 through the air. LaPlante hit six different receivers in the first 24 minutes, including Blackmon five times for 113 yards. LaPlante finished 26-for-38 for 350 yards. Blackmon ended with six catches for 122 yards. Dixon rushed for 41 yards on seven carries and caught five passes for 83 yards.Defense comes through again
Despite allowing 20 points, double the output they allowed in the first three games, the Cobras came up big when they needed.
Junior Jaydin Willingham made a stop on SFA’s first series when the Rams went on fourth-and-3.
Quinteros-Mendoza had numerous tackles for a loss. Senior Emmanuel Adolphe had a tackle for loss. Junior Justin Soto, Beaubrun and senior Chad DeVries broke up passes.
Cobras visit Vero Beach in a big district game next
The Cobras now gear up for a Class 6A-District 8 game Friday at Vero Beach High. Fort Pierce Central has lost 13 straight to Vero Beach with its most recent victory coming on Oct. 4, 2013, a 27-21 decision.
“You’ve got to take care of the opponent in front of you, and we didn’t do a very good job of that,” Watkins said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do.”
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Fort Pierce Central football wins with fake field goal as time expires
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