- April 25, 2024
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Flagler Palm Coast players huddled for a team prayer Thursday night, just minutes before the kickoff of their final regular season home game. Little did they know, their prayers would be answered 48 minutes later.
It was senior night, but Flagler Palm Coast sophomore Marcel Williams stole the show.
A little bit of trickery and a lot of belief catapulted FPC past Sandalwood, 17-16, in a District 1-8A stunner at a windy Sal Campanella Memorial Stadium.
“I’m stupefied, I don’t know what to say — it’s just a shock,” an emotional FPC coach Caesar Campana said after the game.
The win heightens the drama for next Friday’s regular season finale between FPC (6-3, 3-1 District 1-8A) and DeLand (4-4, 2-1 District 1-8A). DeLand plays Mandarin on Monday night. If DeLand wins, then next Friday’s winner would head to the Class 8A state playoffs.
But all of those scenarios are still possible thanks to late-game heroics by FPC on Thursday night.
A last-minute game change was made Wednesday afternoon because of Hurricane Sandy passing by Florida’s east coast this weekend.
Down 16-10 with about two minutes to go, FPC was without a quarterback after starting QB Dalton Thomas left the game a few minutes earlier with a foot injury. With no options left, Campana turned to Williams to lead FPC 80 yards and to a possible game-winning touchdown.
On first down, Williams took the snap and ran for no gain. Then, on 2nd-and-20, Williams sprinted off toward FPC's sideline. Senior Willie Gardner motioned in from his wide receiver position and took the snap. Gardner threw the ball into the windy air and Williams, who never actually came off the field, streaked down the sideline and hurled in the pass. He took off sprinting 75 yards to the Sandalwood 5-yard line.
On the next play, Williams took the direct snap off the left end and into the end zone. With 1:15 left in the game, FPC took a 17-16 lead.
FPC then recovered a fumble on the ensuing kickoff. But the Bulldogs only managed to take about 10 seconds off the clock and punted with just seconds remaining in the game. Gardner sealed the victory when he intercepted a pass on the final play of the game.
With a little trickery, FPC pulled off what seemed to be an improbable win. Williams, who missed most of the week because of a back injury he suffered last week against Fletcher, played just six snaps Thursday night. But all he needed was two plays to show how deadly he can be.
Gardner finished his final regular season home game as a Bulldog snagging four passes for 46 yards. But he also threw the most important pass of the game — and probably his career.
“When I threw it and (Williams) caught it, I was like, please, I know your back hurts, but please try and get as far as you can,” Gardner said after the game. “And he got as far as he could and that was good enough.”
The game was a nail-biter, but it probably could have been much more lopsided if FPC or Sandalwood capitalized on the other team’s mistakes.
The two teams combined for 11 turnovers. FPC accounted for five of those — three interceptions and two fumbles.
The turnovers began on the second play of the game when FPC recovered a muffed Sandalwood handoff.
Sandalwood was without senior quarterback Parker Boehme, who was sidelined with a foot injury. Boehme, who is a Duke commit, is one of four Division I recruits on the Sandalwood team.
The Bulldogs took advantage of an early mistake and running back Jimmie Robinson glided in for a 4-yard touchdown run less than a minute into the game to give FPC a 7-0 lead.
FPC had a chance to increase its lead after forcing a three-and-out, but Thomas threw his first of three interceptions from Sandalwood’s 1-yard line four minutes into the game.
FPC missed two field goals and caughed the ball up plenty, but the defense kept the team in the game by imiting Sandalwood to just 17 yards passing and forcing six turnovers. Senior Sammie Cooper had two interceptions.
Cooper’s first interception came at FPC’s 1-yard line, but Sandalwood dropped FPC for a loss in its own end zone for a safety.
FPC led 7-2 after the first quarter, but Sandalwood took a 16-7 halftime lead after Demarcus Walker, an Alabama recruit, blocked and recovered a punt in the end zone with 7:28 to go in the half. FPC had a chance to narrow the lead as time expired in the first half, but Johnny Osorio's 32-yard field goal missed wide left.
After a scoreless third quarter, FPC punted the ball with about five minutes remaining in the game, but the ball clanked off a Sandalwood player’s helmet, and FPC's Ladale Batson recovered the fumble. That was the play that set up an exciting final four minutes.
A few plays later, Osorio nailed a 23-yard field goal to cut the lead to 16-10.
Sandalwood fielded a short kickoff and drove deep into FPC’s red zone, but Sandalwood pushed a 23-yard chip shot field goal wide right, which opened the door for the epic comeback with 1:59 left on the game clock.
“We played hard and we did what we had to do,” Gardner said. “I’m glad we won. … It was a good game.”
Campana said after the game that he wasn’t sure of the severity of Thomas’ foot injury. Thomas finished the game 13-for-25 for 125 yards and three INTs.
“This is a great win for us, but you know what? We have to get ready to play in eight days and that’s where all the marbles come down to,” Campana said. .
After Thursday’s thriller in Bunnell, FPC will hit the road for its third straight district game and its regular season finale. A playoff berth — and possibly the district championship — will be on the line.
But at least for now, Campana will enjoy Thursday’s victory.
“We talked to our kids about the football Gods, and right at the end there, they pointed down at us,” he said.
