-Jacksonville Fl- There’s no love lost between Fletcher and Sandalwood High Schools. There’s a long history of fights on and off the field at several different events, illuminating a long and heated rivalry. Friday night was no different, as the Senators fought off the Saints on and of the field for a thrilling 1-point victory.
Pop Makes The Stop
Right away Fletcher’s defensive back Ronald “Pop” Bullard (Campbell commit) made a big play, when he timed the route perfectly and picked off a Sandalwood pass on the Saints opening drive of the game. Bullard would set the tone for a defense that generated key turnovers during the game that would make a big difference.
Wit hthe game tied 14-14 in the 4th quarter, Eli Durden forced a fumble that was recovered bynCornelius Davis that proved pivitol in the game’s final outcome.
Sandalwood Strikes First
The score remaining 0-0, Sandalwood would put the ball in the hands of senior running back Jordan Bean. Bean made key first downs on the drive, and quarterback Baylor Hayes would scamble for crucial yards.
This set up Jhamari Harvell for a short touchdown giving the Saints a 7-0 lead in the first quarter. The score was the staple of a first quarter that was dominated by Sandalwood. Their defense stepped up big to stop a potential scoring opportunity, and their offensive line had opened holes for both Harvell and Bean to run through.
Tate, Tony, Touchdown
Quarterback Marcellis Tate (USF commit) settled down his offense in the second quarter and decided to stretch the field. After two straight completions for first downs undeneath, Tate went up top to Tony Vaglienti for a long 75-yard touchdown. The play to “Tony Touchdown” was exaclty what Fletcher needed to get back into the game tying it at 7-7 at halftime.
Game Is Tied And Tensions Rise
In the second half, in a tied ball game tensions rose high on and off the field. First, on a Baylor Hayes scamble out of bounds, the quarterback would be hit late and sent sprawling into his own benches, creating lots pushing and shoving on the Sandalwood sideline.
Moments later, a scuffle in the Sandalwood student section ensued in which administrators and law enforcement had to respond and break up the fight. It was reported that several Fletcher students came over to the Sandalwood student section which caused the incident. It resulted in a stoppage of play on the field.
The momentum seemed to shift to Fletcher at this point, as Sandalwood was not able to movee the ball effectively. The Senator’s took advantage of this shift to go up top again. This time Tate would hit wide receiver Coron Davis who made an incredible one-handed catch with Sandalwood’s defender draped all over him.
Fletcher Focuses
The play set up a 1-yard touchdown quarterback sneak by Tate, giving Fletcher a 14-7 lead in the 3rd quarter. Tate finished with a passing touchdown and rushing touchdown in the contest saying after the game, “they were playing man and we feel like no team in Jacksonville can guard us man, so we took the shot”.
Hayes Makes The Plays
Trailing 14-7, Sandalwood quarterback Baylor Hayes led his team on a game tying drive. The key play of the drive, was when Hayes bought time with his legs and found his big receiver Marceli Henfield down field. The play set up another short touchdown by Harvell, which knotted everything at 14, headed to the 4th.
Taylor Made
Fletcher running back Noah Taylor is an x-factor for the offense. In the fourth quarter and the game tied, Fletcher’s coaches called his number twice and he delivered both on screen passes. The senior was able to gain big yardage on both plays to provide a big boost to the offense. The big plays set up the go ahead touchdown by Keondre Harold giving Fletcher a 21-14 lead.
Bean Time
Sandalwood needed an answer in hopes of tying the game and Jordan Bean was that answer. Sandalwood gave Bean the ball play after play attacking the left side of the Fletcher defense. Bean would get several first downs on this drive. Finally, on an incredible play, Bean seemed to be stopped by several Fletcher defenders, but twisted out of the tackle, keeping his balance and fighting fo the goal-line for the touchdown. Sandalwood was within one point on tying the game with 2-minutes left in the 4th.
However, Sandalwood would not tie the game, as the extra point was unsuccessful leaving a 1-point deficet by Sandalwood. Fletcher would
Sandalwood would get one more shot after a defensive back Elijah Copes interception. However, Sandalwood was unable to convert a 4th down play, as the Fletcher defense held the Saints off, winning the game 21-20.
Fletcher improved to 3-2 and will face Tery Parker (1-4) next week. Sandalwood falls to (1-3) and will face Nease (1-4) next week.
